UC-NRLF 


IOAN  STACK 


THE 


LIFE  OF  JOSIAII  HENSON. 

M 
FORMERLY   A   SLAVE, 


NOW  AN  INHABITANT  OF  CANADA, 


AS 


NARRATED  BY   HIMSELF. 


BOSTON: 

ARTHUR    D.    PHELPS. 
1849. 


: 

.  H  t 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849,  by 

ARTHUR  D.  PHELPS, 
in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


f 

CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED  BY  BOLLES   AND  HOUGHTON: 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  following  memoir  was  written  from  the 
dictation  of  JOSIAH  HENSON.  A  portion  of  the 
story  was  told,  which,  when  written,  was  read 
to  him,  that  any  errors  of  statement  might  be 
corrected.  The  substance  of  it,  therefore,  the 
facts,  the  reflections,  and  very  often  the  words, 
are  his ;  and  little  more  than  the  structure  of 
the  sentences  belongs  to  another. 

The  narrative,  in  this  form,  necessarily  loses 
the  attraction  derived  from  the  earnest  manner, 
the  natural  eloquence  of  a  man  who  tells  a 
story  in  which  he  is  deeply  interested  ;  but  it 
is  hoped  that  enough  remains  to  repay  perusal, 

and  that  the  character  of  the  man,  and  the 

\ 

striking  nature  of  the  events  of  his  life  will  be 


IV  ADVERTISEMENT. 

thought  to  justify  the  endeavor  to  make  them 
more  extensively  known.  The  story  has  this 
advantage,  that  it  is  not  fiction,  but  fact ;  and 
it  will  be  found  fruitful  in  instruction  by  those 
who  attentively  consider  its  lessons. 


LIFE  OF  JOSIAII  HENSON. 


I  WAS  born,  June  15,  1789.  in  Charles  County, 
Maryland,  on  a  farm  belonging  to  Mr.  Francis  N., 
about  a  mile  from  Port  Tobacco.  My  mother 
was  the  property  of  Dr.  Josiah  McP.,  but  was 
hired  by  Mr.  N.,  to  whom  my  father  belonged. 
The  only  incident  I  can  remember,  which  oc 
curred  while  my  mother  continued  on  N.'s  farm, 
was  the  appearance  of  my  father  one  day,  with 
his  head  bloody  and  his  back  lacerated.  \ile  was 
in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  and  though  it  was 
all  a  mystery  to  me  at  the  age  of  three  or  four 
years,  it  was  explained  at  a  later  period,  and  I 
understood  that  he  had  been  suffering  the  cruel 
penalty  of  the  Maryland  law  for  beating  a  white 
man.  His  right  ear  had  been  cut  off  close  to  his 
head,  and  he  had  received  a  hundred  lashes  on 
his  back!y  He  had  beaten  the  overseer  for  a  bru 
tal  assault  on  my  mother,  (and  this  was  his  pun 
ishment.  Furious  at  such  treatment,  my  father 
became  a  different  man,  and  was  so  morose,  dis- 
1 


Z  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

obedient,  and  intractable,  that  Mr.  N.  determined 
to  sell  him.  He  accordingly  parted  with  him,  not 
long  after,  to  his  son,  who  lived  in  Alabama  ;  and 
neither  my  mother  nor  I,  ever  heard  of  him 
again.  He  was  naturally,  as  I  understood  after 
wards  from  my  mother  and  other  persons,  a  man 
of  amiable  temper,  and  of  considerable  energy  of 
character;  but  it  is  not  strange  that  he  should  be 
essentially  changed  by  such  cruelty  and  injustice 
under  the  sanction  of  law. 

After  the  sale  of  my  father  by  N.,  and  his 
leaving  Maryland  for  Alabama,  Dr.  McP.  would 
no  longer 'hire  out  my  mother  to  N.  She  returned, 
(  therefore,  to  the  estate  of  the  doctor,  who  was 
very  much  kinder  to  his  slaves  than  the  general 
ity  of  planters,  never  suffering  them  to  be  struck 
by  any  one.  He  was,  indeed,  a  man  of  good 
natural  impulses,  kind-hearted,  liberal,  and  jovial. 
The  latter  quality  was  so  much  developed  as  to 
be  his  great  failing;  and  though  his  convivial 
excesses  were  not  thought  of  as  a  fault  by  the 
community  in  which  he  lived,  and  did  not  even 
prevent  his  having  a  high  reputation  for  goodness 
of  heart,  and  an  almost  saint-like  benevolence, 
yet  they  were,  nevertheless,  his  ruin.  My  mother, 
and  her  young  family  of  three  girls  an:d  three 
boys,  of  which  I  was  the  youngest^  resided  pn  this 
estate  for  two  or  three  years,  during  which  my 
only  recollections  are  of  being  rather  a  pet  of  the 
doctors,  who  thought  I  was  a  bright  child,  and 
of  being  much  impressed  with  what  I  afterwards 


LIFE     OF    JOSIAH    HENSON.  3 

recognized  as  the  deep  piety  and  devotional  feel 
ing  and  habits  of  my  mother.  I  do  not  know 
how,  or  where  she  acquired  her  knowledge  of 
God,  or  her  acquaintance  with  the  Lord's  prayer, 
which  she  so  frequently  repeated  and  taught  me 
to  repeat.  I  remember  seeing  her  often  on  her 
knees,  endeavoring  to  arrange  her  thoughts  in 
prayers  appropriate  to  her  situation,  but  which 
amounted  to  little  more  than  constant  ejaculation, 
and  the  repetition  of  short  phrases,  which  were 
within  my  infant  comprehension,  and  have 
remained  in  my  memory  to  this  hour. 

After  this  brief  period  of  comparative  comfort, 
however,  the  death  of  Dr.  McP.  brought  about  a 
revolution  in  our  condition,  which,  common  as 
such  things  are  in  slave  countries,  can  never  be 
imagined  by  those  not  subject  to  them,  nor  recol 
lected  by  those  who  have  been,  without  emotions 
of  grief  and  indignation  deep  and  ineffaceable. 
The  doctor  was  riding  from  one  of  his  scenes  of 
riotous  excess,  when,  falling  from  his  horse,  in 
crossing  a  little  run,  not  a  foot  deep,  he  was  una 
ble  to  save  himself  from  drowning. 

In  consequence  of  his  decease,  it  became  neces 
sary  to  sell  the  estate  and  the  slaves,  in  order  to 
divide  the  property  among  the  heirs ;  and  we 
were  all  put  up  at  auction  and  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder,  and  scattered  over  various  parts  of  the 
country.  My  brothers  and  sisters  were  bid  off 
one  by  one,  while  my  mother,  holding  my  hand, 
looked  on  in  an  agony  of  grief,  the  cause  of  which 


4  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

I  but  ill  understood  at  first,  but  which  dawned 
on  my  mind,  with  dreadful  clearness,  as  the  sale 
proceeded.  My  mother  was  then  separated  from 
me,  and  put  up  in  her  turn.  She  was  bought  by 
a  man  named  Isaac  R.,  residing  in  Montgomery 
county,  and  then  I  was  offered  to  the  assembled 
purchasers.  My  mother,  half  distracted  with  the 
parting  forever  from  all  her  children,  pushed 
through  the  crowd,  while  the  bidding  for  me  was 
going  on,  to  the  spot  where  R.  was  standing. 
She  fell  at  his  feet,  and  clung  to  his  knees, 
entreating  him  in  tones  that  a  mother  only  could 
command,  to  buy  her  baby  as  well  as  herself,  arid 
spare  to  her  one  of  her  little  ones  at  least.  Will 
it,  can  it  be  believed  that  this  man,  thus  appealed 
to,  was  capable  not  merely  of  turning  a  deaf  ear 
to  her  supplication,  but  of  disengaging  himself 
from  her  with  such  violent  blows  and  kicks,  as 
to  reduce  her  to  the  necessity  of  creeping  out  of 
his  reach,  and  mingling  the  groan  of  bodily  suf 
fering  with  the  sob  of  a  breaking  heart  ?  Yet 
this  was  one  of  my  earliest  observations  of  men  ; 
an  experience  which  has  been  common  to  me 
with  thousands  of  my  race,  the  bitterness  of 
which  its  frequency  cannot  diminish  to  any  indi 
vidual  who  suffers  it,  while  it  is  dark  enough  to 
overshadow  tne  whole  after-life  with  something 
blacker  than  a  funeral  pall,  j- 1  was  bought  by  a 
stranger. — Almost  immediately,  however,  wheth 
er  my  childish  strength,  at  five  or  six  years  of  age, 
was  overmastered  by  such  scenes  and  experi- 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON.  5 

ences,  or  from  some  accidental  cause,  I  fell  sick, 
and  seemed  to  my  new  master  so  little  likely  to 
recover,  that  he  proposed  to  R.,  the  purchaser  of 
my  mother,  to  take  me  too  at  such  a  trifling  rate 
that  it  could  not  be  refused.  I  was  thus  provi 
dentially  restored  to  my  mother;  and  under  her 
care,  destitute  as  she  was  of  the  proper  means  of 
nursing  me,  I  recovered  my  health,  and  grew  up 
to  be  an  uncommonly  vigorous  and  healthy  boy 
and  man. 

The  character  of  R.,  the  master  whom  I  faith 
fully  served  for  many  years,  is  by  no  means  an 
uncommon  one  in  any  part  of  the  world  ;  but  it  is 
to  be  regretted  that  a  domestic  institution  should 
anywhere  put  it  in  the  power  of  such  a  one  to 
tyrannize  over  his  fellow  beings,  and  inflict  so 
much  needless  misery  as  is  sure  to  be  produced 
by  such  a  man  in  such  a  position.  Coarse  and 
vulgar  in  his  habits,  unprincipled  and  cruel  in 
his  general  deportment,  and  especially  addicted 
to  the  vice  of  licentiousness,  his  "slaves  had  little 
opportunity  for  relaxation  from  wearying  labor, 
were  supplied  with  the  scantiest  means  of  sus 
taining  their  toil  by  necessary  food,  and  had  no 
security  for  personal  rights.  The  natural  ten 
dency  oC  slavery  is,  to  convert  the  master  into  a 
tyrant,  and  the  slave  into  the  crfnging,  treach 
erous,  false,  and  thieving  victim  of  tyranny. 
R.  and  his  slaves  were  no  exception  to  the  gene 
ral  rule,  but  might  be  cited  as  apt  illustrations  of 
the  nature  of  the  case. 


O  LIFE     OF    JOSIAH    BENSON. 

My  earliest  employments  were,  to  carry  buckets 
of  water  to  the  men  at  work,  to  hold  a  horse- 
plough,  used  for  weeding  between*  the  rows  of 
corn,  and  as  I  grew  older  and  taller,  to  take  care 
of  master's  saddle-horse.  Then  a  hoe  was  put 
into  my  hands,  and  I  was  soon  required  to  do  the 
day's  work  of  a  man ;  and  it  was  not  long  before 
'I  could  do  it,  at  least  as  well  as  my  associates  in 
misery. 

The  every-day  life  of  a  slave  on  one  of 
our  southern  plantations,  however  frequently 
it  may  have  been  described,  is  generally  little 
known  at  the  North ;  and  must  be  mentioned  as 
a  necessary  illustration  of  the  character  and 
habits  of  the  slave  and  the  slave-holder,  cre 
ated  and  perpetuated  by  their  relative  position. 
The  principal  food  of  those  upon  my  master's 
plantation  consisted  of  corn  meal,  and  salt  her 
rings ;  to  which  was  added  in  summer  a  little 
buttermilk,  and  the  few  vegetables  which  each 
might  raise  for  himself  and  his  family,  on  the 
little  piece. of  ground  which  was  assigned  to  him 
for  the  purpose,  called  a  truck  patch.  The  meals 
were  two,  daily.  The  first,  or  breakfast,  was 
taken  at  12  o'clock,  after  laboring  from  daylight; 
and  the  other  when  the  work  of  the  remainder  of 
the  day  was  over.  The  only  dress  was  of  tow 
cloth,  which  for  the  young,  and  often  even  for 
those  who  had  passed  the  period  of  childhood, 
consisted  of  a  single  garment,  something  like  a 
shirt,  but  longer,  reaching  to  the  ancles ;  and  for 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH   BENSON.  7 

the  older,  a  pair  of  pantaloons,  or  a  £own,  accord 
ing  to  the  sex  ;  while  some  kind  of  round  jacket, 
or  overcoat,  might  be  added  in  winter,  a  wool 
hat  once  in  two  or  three  years,  for  the  males,  and 
a  pair  of  coarse  shoes  once  a  year.  Our  lodging 
was  in  log  huts,  of  a  single  small  room,  with  no 
other  floor  than  the  trodden  earth,  in  which  ten 
or  a  dozen  persons  —  men,  women,  and  children 
—  might  sleep,  but  which  could  not  protect  them 
from  dampness  and  cold,  nor  permit  the  existence 
of  the  common  decencies  of  life.  There  were 
neither  beds,  nor  furniture  of  any  description  —  a 
blanket  being  the  only  addition  to  the  dress  of 
the  day  for  protection  from  the  chillness  of  the 
air  or  the  earth.  In  these  hovels  were  we  penned 
at  night,  and  fed  by  day ;  here  were  the  children 
born,  and  the  sick  —  neglected.  Such  were  the 
provisions  for  the  daily  toil  of  the  slave. 

Notwithstanding  this  system  of  management, 
however,  I  grew  to  be  a  robust  and  vigorous  lad, 
and  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  there  were  few  who 
could  compete  with  me  in  work,  or  in  sport— for 
not  even  the  condition  of  a  slave  can  altogether 
repress  the  animal  spirits  of  the  young  negro.  I 
was  competent  to  all  the  work  that  was  done 
upon  the  farm,  and  could  run  faster  and  farther, 
wrestle  longer,  and  jump  higher,  than  anybody 
about  me.  My  master  and  my  fellow  slaves 
used  to  look  upon  me,  and  speak  of  me,  as  a 
wonderfully  smart  fellow,  and  prophecy  the  great 
things  I  should  do  when  I  became  a  man.  A 


8  LIFE    OF     JOSIAH     BENSON. 

casual  word  of  this  sort,  sometimes  overheard, 
would  fill  me  with  a  pride  and  ambition  which 
some  would  think  impossible  in  a  negro  slave, 
degraded,  starved,  and  abused  as  I  was,  and  had 
been,  from  my  earliest  recollection.  But  the  love 
of  superiority  is  not  confined  to  kings  and  empe 
rors;  and  it  is  a  positive  fact,  that  pride  and  am 
bition  were  as  active  in  my  soul  as  probably  they 
ever  were  in  that  of  the  greatest  soldier  or  states 
man.  The  objects  I  pursued,  I  must  admit,  were 
not  just  the  same  as  theirs.  Mine  were  to  be 
first  in  the  field,  whether  we  were  hoeing,  mow 
ing,  or  reaping  ;  to  surpass  those  of  my  own  age, 
or  indeed  any  age,  in  athletic  exercises;  and  to 
obtain,  if  possible,  the  favorable  regard  of  the 
petty  despot  who  ruled  over  us.  This  last  was 
an  exercise  of  the  understanding,  rather  than  of 
the  affections ;  and  I  was  guided  in  it  more  by 
what  I  supposed  would  be  effectual,  than  by  a 
nice  judgment,  of  the  propriety  of  the  means  I 
used. 

I  obtained  great  influence  with  my  compan 
ions,  as  well  by  the  superiority  I  showed  in  labor 
and  in  sport,  as  by  the  assistance  I  yielded  them, 
and  the  favors  I  conferred  upon  them,  from 
impulses  which  I  cannot  consider  as  wrong, 
though  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  conceal  some 
times  the  act  as  well  as  its  motive.  I  have 
toiled,  and  induced  others  to  toil,  many  an  extra 
hour,  in  order  to  show  my  master  what  an  ex 
cellent  day's  work  had  been  accomplished,  and  to 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  9 

win  a  kind  word,  or  a  benevolent  deed  from  his 
callous  heart  In  general,  indifference,  or  a  cool 
calculation  of  my  value  to  him,  were  my  reward, 
chilling  those  hopes  of  an  improvement  in  my 
condition,  which  was  the  ultimate  object  of  my 
efforts.  I  was  much  more  easily  moved  to  com 
passion  and  sympathy  than  he  was;  and  one 
of  the  means  I  took  to  gain  the  good-will  of 
my  fellow  sufferers,  was  by  taking  from  him  some 
things  that  he  did  not  give,  in  part  payment  of 
my  extra  labor.  The  condition  of  the  male  slave 
is  bad  enough,  Heaven  knows;  but  that  of  the 
female,  compelled  to  perform  unfit  labor,  sTck, 
suffering,  and  bearing  the  burdens  of  her  own 
sex  unpitied  and  unaided,  as  well  as  the  toils 
which  belong  to  the  other,  has  often  oppressed  me 
with  a  load  of  sympathy.  And  sometimes,  when 
I  have  seen  them  starved,  and  miserable,  and 
unable  to  help  themselves,  I  have  helped  them  to 
some  of  the  comforts  which  they  were  denied  by 
him  who  owned  them,  and  which  my  compan 
ions  had  not  the  wit  or  the  daring  to  procure. 
Meat  was  not  a  part  of  our  regular  food  ;  but  my 
master  had  plenty  of  sheep  and  pigs,  and  some 
times  I  have  picked  out  the  best  one  I  could  find 
in  the  flock,  or  the  drove,  carried  it  a  mile  or  two 
into  the  woods,  slaughtered  it,  cut  it  up,  and  dis 
tributed  it  among  the  poor  creatures,  to  whom  it 
was  at  once  food,  luxury,  and  medicine.  Was 
this  wrong?  I  can  only  say  that,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  my  conscience  does  not  reproach  me  for 


10  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH    HENSON. 

it,  and  that  then  I  esteemed  it  among  the  best 
of  my  deeds. 

By  means  of  the  influence  thus  acquired,  the 
increased  amount  of  work  done  upon  the  farm, 
and  by  the  detection  of  the  knavery  of  the  over 
seer,  who  plundered  his  employer  for  more  selfish 
ends,  and  through  my  watchfulness  was  caught 
in  the  act  and  dismissed,  I  was  promoted  to  be 
superintendent  of  the  farm  work,  and  managed 
to  raise  more  than  double  the  crops,  with  more 
cheerful  and  willing  labor,  than  was  ever  seen  on 
the  estate  before. 

Previous  to  my  attaining  this  important  station, 
however,  an  incident  occurred  of  so  powerful  an 
influence  on  my  intellectual  development,  my 
prospect  of  improvement  in  character,  as  well  as 
condition,  my  chance  of  religious  culture,  and  in 
short,  on  my  whole  nature,  body  and  soul,  that 
it  deserves  especial  notice  and  commemoration. 
There  was  a  person  living  at  Georgetown,  a  few 
miles  only  from  R's  plantation,  whose  business 
was  that  of  a  baker,  and  whose  character  was 
that  of  -an  upright,  benevolent,  Christian  man. 
He  was  noted  especially  for  his  detestation  of 
slavery,  and  his  resolute  avoidance  of  the  em 
ployment  of  slave  labor  in  his  business.  He 
would  not  even  hire  a  slave,  the  price  of  whose 
toil  must  be  paid  to  his  master,  but  contented 
himself  with  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  and 
with  such  free  labor  as  he  could  procure.  His  rep 
utation  was  high,  not  only  for  this  almost  singu- 


LITE     OF    JOSIAH    HENSON.  11 

lar  abstinence  from  what  no  one  about  him 
thought  wrong,  but  for  his  general  probity  and 
excellence.  This  man  occasionally  served  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  preached  in  a  neigh 
borhood  where  preachers  were  somewhat  rare  at 
that  period.  One  Sunday  when  he  was  to  offi 
ciate  in  this  way,  at  a  place  three  or  four  miles 
distant,  my  mother  persuaded  me  to  ask  master's 
leave  to  go  and  hear  him ;  and  although  such 
permission  was  not  given  freely  or  often,  yet  his 
favor  to  me  was  shown  for  this  once  by  allow 
ing  me  to  go,  without  much  scolding,  but  not 
without  a  pretty  distinct  intimation  of  what  would 
befall  me,  if  I  did  not  return  immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  service.  I  hurried  off,  pleased  with 
the  opportunity,  but  without  any  definite  expec 
tations  of  benefit  or  amusement ;  for  up  to  this 
period  of  my  life,  and  I  was  then  eighteen  years 
old,  I  had  never  heard  a  sermon,  nor  any  dis 
course  or  conversation  whatever,  upon  religious 
topics,  except  what  had  been  impressed  upon  me 
by  my  mother,  of  the  responsibility  of  all  to  a 
Supreme  Being.  When  I  arrived  at  the  place  of 
meeting,  the  services  were  so  far  advanced  that 
the  speaker  was  just  beginning  his  discourse,  from 
the  text,  Hebrews  ii.  9 ;  "  That  he,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  should  taste  of  death  for  every  man." 
This  was  the  first  text  of  the  Bible  to  which  I 
had  ever  listened,  knowing  it  to  be  such.  I  have 
never  forgotten  it,  and  scarce  a  day  has  passed 
since,  in  which  I  have  not  recalled  it,  and  the 

• 


12  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON. 

sermon  that  was  preached  from  it.  The  divine 
character  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  life  and  teachings, 
his  sacrifice  of  himself  for  others,  his  death  and 
resurrection  were  all  alluded  to,  and  some  of  the 
points  were  dwelt  upon  with  great  power, —  great, 
at  least,  to  me,  who  heard  of  these  things  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life.  I  was  wonderfully  impres 
sed,  too,  with  the  use  which  the  preacher  made 
of  the  last  words  of  the  text,  "for  every  man" 
He  said  the  death  of  Christ  was  not  designed  for 
the  benefit  of  a  select  few  only,  but  for  the  salva 
tion  bf  the  world,  for  the  bond  as  well  as  the 
free ;  and  he  dwelt  on  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor,  the  persecuted,  and  the  dis 
tressed,  its  deliverance  to  the  captive,  and  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free,  till  my 
heart  burned  within  me,  and  I  was  in  a  state  of 
the  greatest  excitement  at  the  thought  that  such 
a  being  as  Jesus  Christ  had  been  described  should 
have  died  for  me  —  for  me  among  the  rest,  a 
poor,  despised,  abused  slave,  who  was  thought 
by  his  fellow  creatures  fit  for  nothing  but  unre 
quited  toil  and  ignorance,  for  mental  and  bodily 
degradation.  I  immediately  determined  to  find 
out  something  more  about  "Christ  and  him  cru 
cified  ; "  and  revolving  the  things  which  I  had 
heard  in  my  mind  as  I  went -home,  I  became  so 
excited  that  I  turned  aside  from  the  road  into  the 
woods,  and  prayed  to  God  for  light  and  for  aid 
with  an  earnestness,  which,  however  unenlight 
ened,  was  at  least  sincere  and  heartfelt;  and 


LIFE    OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  13 

which  the  subsequent  course  of  my  life  has  led 
me  to  imagine  might  not  have  been  unacceptable 
to  Him  who  heareth  prayer.  At  all  events,  I 
date  my  conversion,  and  my  awakening  to  a  new 
life — a  consciousness  of  superior  powers  and  des 
tiny  to  any  thing  I  had  before  conceived  of —  from 
this  day,  so  memorable  to  me.  I  used  every 
means  and  opportunity  of  inquiry  into  religious 
matters :  and  so  deep  was  my  conviction  of  their 
superior  importance  to  every  thing  else,  so  clear 
my  perception  of  my  own  faults,  and  so  undoubt- 
ing  my  observation  of  the  darkness  and  sin  that 
surrounded  me,  that  I  could  not  help  talking 
much  on  these  subjects  with  those  about  me;  and 
it  was  not  long  before  I  began  to  pray  with  them, 
and  exhort  them,  and  to  impart  to  the  poor  slaves 
those  little  glimmerings  of  light  from  another 
world,  which  had  reached  my  own  eye.  In  a 
few  years  I  became  quite  an  esteemed  preacher 
among  them,  and  I  will  not  believe  it  is  vanity 
which  leads  me  to  think  I  was  useful  to  some. 

I  must  return,  however,  for  the  present,  to  the 
course  of  my  life  in  secular  affairs,  the  facts  of 
which  it  is  my  principal  object  to  relate.  The 
difference  between  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
designed  that  all  men  should  regard  one  another, 
as  children  of  the  same  Father,  and  the  manner 
in  which  men  actually  do  treat  each  other,  as  if 
they  were  placed  here  for  mutual  annoyance  and 
destruction,  is  well  exemplified  by  an  incident 
that  happened  to  me  within  a  year  or  two  from 


14  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

this  period,  that  is,  when  I  was  nineteen  or  twenty 
years  old.  My  master's  habits  were  such  as 
were  common  enough  among  the  dissipated  plant 
ers  of  the  neighborhood ;  and  one  of  their  fre 
quent  practices  was,  to  assemble  on  Saturday  or 
Sunday,  which  were  their  holidays,  and  gamble, 
run  horses,  or  fight  game-cocks,  discuss  politics, 
and  drink  whiskey,  and  brandy  and  water,  all 
day  long.  Perfectly  aware  that  they  would  not 
be  able  to  find  their  own  way  home  at  night, 
each  one  ordered  a  slave,  his  particular  attendant, 
to  come  after  him  and  help  him  home.  I  was 
chosen  for  this  confidential  duty  by  my  master ; 
and  many  is  the  time  I  have  held  him  on  his 
horse,  when  he  could  not  hold  himself  in  the 
saddle,  and  walked  by  his  side  in  darkness  and 
mud  from  the  tavern  to  his  house.  Of  course, 
quarrels  and  brawls  of  the  most  violent  descrip 
tion  were  frequent  consequences  of  these  meet 
ings,  and  whenever  they  became  especially  dan 
gerous,  and  glasses  were  thrown,  dirks  drawn, 
and  pistols  fired,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  slaves  to 
rush  in,  and  each  one  was  to  drag  his  master  from 
the  fight,  and  carry  him  home  To  tell  the  truth, 
this  was  a  part  of  my  business  for  which  I  felt 
no  reluctance.  I  was  young,  remarkably  athletic 
and  self-relying,  and  in  such  affrays  I  carried  it 
with  a  high  hand,  and  would  elbow  my  way 
among  the  whites,  whom  it  would  have  been 
almost  death  for  me  to  strike,  seize  my  master, 
and  drag  him  out,  mount  him  on  his  horse,  or 


•       LIFE     OF    JOSIAH     HENSON.  15 

crowd  him  into  his  buggy,  with  the  ease  with 
which  I  would  handle  a  bag  of  corn,  and  at  the 
same  time  with  the  pride  of  conscious  superiority, 
and  the  kindness  inspired  by  performing  an  act 
of  benevolence.  I  knew  I  was  doing  for  him 
what  he  could  not  do  for  himself,  and  showing 
my  superiority  to  others,  and  acquiring  their  re 
spect  in  some  degree,  at  the  same  time. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  my  master  got  into 
a  quarrel  with  his  brother's  overseer,  who  was 
one  of  the  party,  and  in  rescuing  the  former,  I 
suppose  I  was  a  little  more  rough  with  the  latter 
than  usual.  I  remember  his  falling  upon  the 
floor,  and  very  likely  it  was  from  the  effects  of  a 
push  from  me,  or  a  movement  of  my  elbow.  He 
attributed  his  fall  to  me,  rather  than  to  the  whis 
key  he  had  drunk,  and  treasured  up  his  ven 
geance  for  the  first  favorable  opportunity.  About 
a  week  afterwards,  I  was  sent  by  my  master  to  a 
place  a  few  miles  distant,  on  horseback,  with 
some  letters.  I  took  a  short  cut  through  a  lane, 
separated  by  gates  from  the  high  road,  and 
bounded  by  a  fence  /on  each  side.  This  lane 
passed  through  some  of  the  farm  owned  by  my 
master's  brother,  and  his  overseer  was  in  the 
adjoining  field,  with  three  negroes,  when  I  went 
by.  On  my  return,  a  half  an  hour  afterwards, 
the  overseer  was  sitting  on  the  fence ;  but  I  could 
see  nothing  of  the  black  fellows.  I  rode  on, 
utterly  unsuspicious  of  any  trouble,  but  as  I 
approached,  he  jumped  off  the  fence,  and  at  the 


16  LIFE     OF    JOSIAH     BENSON. 

same  moment  two  of  the  negroes  sprung  up 
from  under  the  bushes,  where  they  had  been  con 
cealed,  and  stood  with  him,  immediately  in  front 
of  me  ;  while  the  third  sprang  over  the  fence  just 
behind  me.  I  was  thus  enclosed  between  what  I 
could  no  longer  doubt  were  hostile  forces.  The 
overseer  seized  my  horse's  bridle,  and  ordered  me 
to  alight,  in  the  usual  elegant  phraseology  used 
by  such  men  to  slaves.  I  asked  what  I  was  to 
alight  for.  "  To  take  the  cursedest  flogging  you 
ever  had  in  your  life,  you  d — d  black  scoun 
drel."  "  But  what  am  I  to  be  flogged  for,  Mr. 
L.,"  I  asked.  "  Not  a  word,"  said  he,  "  but 
'light  at  once,  and  take  off  your  jacket.7'  I  saw 
there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done,  and  slipped  oflf 
the  horse  on  the  opposite  side  from  him.  "  Now 
take  off  ydur  shirt,"  cried  he  ;  and  as  I  demurred 
at  this,  he  lifted  a  stick  he  had  in  his  hand  to 
strike  me,  but  so  suddenly  and  violently,  that  he 
frightened  the  horse,  which  broke  away  from 
him,  and  ran  home.  I  was  thus  left  without 
means  of  escape,  to  sustain  the  attacks  of  four 
men,  as  well  as  I  might.  In  avoiding  Mr.  L.'s 
blow,  I  had  accidentally  got  into  a  corner  of  the 
fence,  where  I  could  not  be  approached  except  in 
front.  The  overseer  called  upon  the  negroes  to 
seize  me ;  but  they,  knowing  something  of  my 
physical  power,  were  rather  slow  to  obey.  At 
length  they  did  their  best,  and  as  they  brought 
themselves  within  my  reach,  I  knocked  them 
down  successively;  and  one  of  them  trying  to 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  17 

trip  up  my  feet  when  he  was  down,  I  gave  him 
a  kick  with  my  heavy  shoe,  which  knocked  out 
several  of  his  front  teeth,  and  sent  him  groaning 
away.  Meanwhile,  the  cowardly  overseer  was 
availing  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  hit  me 
over  the  head  with  his  stick,  which  was  not 
heavy  enough  toNknock  me  down,  though  it  drew 
blood  freely.  At  length,  tired  of  the  length  of  the 
affray,  he  seized  a  stake,  six  or  seven  feet  long, 
from  the  fence,  and  struck  at  me  with  his  whole 
strength.  In  attempting  to  ward  off  the  blow, 
my  right  arm  was  broken,  and  I  wa» brought  to 
the  ground;  where  repeated  blows  broke  both  my 
shoulder  blades,  and  made  the  blood  gush  from 
my  mouth  copiously.  The  two  blacks  begged 
him  not  to  murder  me,  and  he  just  left  me  as  I 
was,  telling  me  to  learn  what  it  was  to  strike  a 
white  man.  The  alarm  had  been  raised  at  the 
house,  by  seeing  the  horse  come  back  without  his 
rider,  and  it  was  not  long  before  assistance 
arrived  to  convey  me  home.  It  may  be  supposed 
it  was  not  done  without  some  suffering  on  my 
part;  as,  besides  my  broken  arm  and  the  wounds 
on  my  head,  I  could  feel  and  hear  the  pieces  of 
my  shoulder-blades  grate  against  each  other 
with  every  breath.  No  physician  or  surgeon 
was  called  to  dress  my  wounds,  and  I  never 
knew  one  to  be  called  to  a  slave  upon  R.'s  estate, 
on  any  occasion  whatever,  and  have  no  know 
ledge  of  such  a  thing  being  done  on  any  estate  in 
the  neighborhood.  I  was  attended,  if  it  may  be 
3 


18  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENS ON. 

called  attendance,  by  my  master's  sister,  who 
had  some  reputation  in  such  affairs ;  and  she 
splintered  my  arm,  and  bound  up  my  back  as 
well  as  she  knew  how,  and  nature  did  the  rest. 
It  was  five  months  before  I  could  work  at  all, 
and  the  first  time  I  tried  to  plough,  a  hard  knock 
'of  the  colter  against  a  stone,  shattered  my 
shoulder-blades  again,  and  gave  me  even  greater 
agony  than  at  first.  I  have  been  unable  to  raise 
my  hands  to  my  head  from  that  day  to  this. 
My  master  prosecuted  Mr.  L.  for  abusing  and 
maiming  his  slave  ;  and  when  the  case  was  tried 
before  the  magistrate,  he  made  a  statement  of  the 
facts  as  I  have  here  related  them.  When  Mr.  L. 
was  called  upon  to  say  why  he  should  not  be 
fined  for  the  offence,  he  simply  stated,  without 
being  put  on  oath,  that  he  had  acted  in  self- 
defence;  that  I  had  assaulted  him;  and  that 
nothing  had  saved  him  from  being  killed  on  the 
spot  by  so  stout  a  fellow,  but  the  fortunate  cir 
cumstance  that  his -three  negroes  were  within 
call.  The  result  was,  that  my  master  paid  all 
the  costs  of  court.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  call 
ing  Mr.  L.  a  liar  and  scoundrel,  and,  afterwards, 
of  beating  him  in  a  very  thorough  manner,  for 
which  he  had  also  to  pay  a  fine  and  costs. 

My  situation,  as  overseer.  I  retained,  together 
with  the  especial  favor  of  my  master,  who  was 
not  displeased  either  with  saving  the  expense  of 
a  large  salary  for  a  white  superintendent,  or  with 
the  superior  crops  I  was  able  to  raise  for  him.  I 


LIFE     OF    JOSIAH     HENSON.  19 

will  not  deny  that  I  used  his  property  more  freely 
than  he  would  have  done  himself,  in  supplying 
his  people  with  better  food ;  but  if  I  cheated  him 
in  this  way,  in  small  matters,  it  was  unequivo 
cally  for  his  own  benefit  in  more  important  ones; 
and  I  accounted,  with  the  strictest  honesty,  for 
every  dollar  I  received  in  the  sale  of  the  property 
entrusted  to  me.  Gradually  the  disposal  of 
every  thing  raised  on  the  farm,  the  wheat,  oats, 
hay,  fruit,  butler,  and  whatever  else  there  might 
be,  was  confided  to  me,  as  it  was  quite  evident 
that  I  could,  and  did  sell  for  better  prices  than 
any  one  else  he  could  employ,  and  he  was  quite 
incompetent  to  attend  to  the  business  himself. 
For  many  years  I  was  his  factotum,  and  sup 
plied  him  with  all  his  means  for  all  his  purposes, 
whether  they  were  good  or  bad.  I  had  no  reason 
to  think  highly  of  his  moral  character,  but  it  was 
my  duty  to  be  faithful  to  him,  in  the  position  in 
which  he  placed  me ;  and  I  can  boldly  declare, 
before  God  and  man,  that  I  was  so.  I  forgave 
him  the  causeless  blows  and  injuries  he  had 
inflicted  on  me  in  childhood  and  youth,  and  was 
proud  of  the  favor  he  now  showed  me,  and  of  the 
character  and  reputation  I  had  earned  by  strenu 
ous  and  persevering  efforts. 

When  I  was  about  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
I  married  a  very  efficient,  and,  for  a  slave,  a  very 
well-taught  girl,  belonging  to  a  neighboring  fam 
ily,  reputed  to  be  pious  and  kind,  whom  I  first 
met  at  the  chapel  I  attended ;  and  during  nearly 


20  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON. 

forty  years  that  have  since  elapsed,  I  have  had  no 
reason  to  regret  the  connectiony  but  many,  to 
rejoice  in  it,  and  be  grateful  for  it.  She  has  borne 
me  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom  survive,  and 
promise  to  be  the  comfort  of  my  declining  years. 

Things  remained  in  this  condition  for  a  consider 
able  period;  my  occupations  being  to  superintend 
the  farming  operations,  and  to  sell  the  produce  in 
the  neighboring  markets  of  Washington  a,nd 
Georgetown.  Many  respectable  people,  yet  liv 
ing  there,  may  possibly  have  some  recollection  of 
"'Siah,"  or  "Si,"  (as  they  used  to  call  me,)  as 
their  market-man  ;  but  if  they  have  forgotten  me, 
I  remember  them  with  an  honest  satisfaction. 

After  passing  his  youth  in  the  manner  I  have 
mentioned  in  a  general  way,  and  which  I  do  not 
wish  more  particularly  to  describe,  my  master, 
at  the  age  of  forty-five,  or  upwards,  married  a 
young  woman  of  eighteen,  who  had  some  little 
property,  and  more  thrift.  Her  (economy  was 
remarkable,  and  was  certainly  no  addition  to  the 
comfort  of  the  establishment.  She  had, a  younger 
brother,  Francis,  to  whom  R.  was  appointed 
guardian,  and  who  used  to  complain  —  not  with 
out  reason,  I  am  confident  —  of  the  meanness  of 
the  provision  made  for  the  household ;  and  he 
would  often  come  to  me,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to 
tell  me  he  could  not  get  enough  to  eat.  I  made 
him  my  friend  for  life,  by  sympathizing  in  his 
emotions,  and  satisfying  his  appetite,  sharing 
with  him  the  food  I  took  care  to  provide  for  my 
own  family. 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  21 

After  a  time,  however,  continual  dissipation 
was  more  than  a  match  for  domestic  saving.  My 
master  fell  into  difficulty,  and  from  difficulty  into 
a  lawsuit  with  a  brother-in-law,  who  charged 
him  with  dishonest  mismanagement  of  property 
confided  to  him  in  trust.  The  lawsuit  was  pro 
tracted  enough  to  cause  his  ruin,  of  itself.  He 
used  every  resource  to  stave  off  the  inevitable 
result,  but  at  length  saw  no  means  of  relief  but 
removal  to  another  State.  He  often  came  to  my 
cabin  to  pass  the  evening  in  lamentations  over  his 
misfortune,  in  cursing  his  brother-in-law,  and  in 
asking  my  advice  and  assistance.  The  first  time 
he  ever  intimated  to  me  his  ultimate  project,  he 
said  he  was  ruined,  that  every  thing  was  gone, 
that  there  was  but  one  resource,  and  that  de 
pended  upon  me.  "  How  can  that  be,  master?  " 
said  I,  in  astonishment.  Before  he  would  explain 
himself,  however,  he  begged  me  to  promise  to  do 
what  he  should  propose,  well  knowing,  from  his 
past  experience  of  my  character,  that  I  should 
hold'myself  bound  by  such  promise  to  do  all  that 
it  implied,  if  it  were  within  the  limits  of  possi 
bility.  Solicited  in  this  way,  with  urgency  and 
tears,  by  the  man  whom  I  had  so  zealously  served 
for  twenty  years,  and  who  now  seemed  abso 
lutely  dependent  upon  his  slave,  —  impelled,  too, 
by  the  fear  which  he  skilfully  awakened,  that  the 
sheriff  would  seize  every  one  who  belonged  to 
him,  and  that  all  would  be  separated,  or  perhaps 
sold  to  go  to  Georgia,  or  Louisiana —  an  object  of 


22  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH    HENSON. 

perpetual  dread  to  the  slave  of  the  more  northern 
States  —  I  consented,  and  promised  faithfully  to 
do  all  I  could  to  save  him  from  the  fate  impend 
ing  over  him.  He  then  told  me  I  must  take  his 
slaves  to  his  brother,  in  Kentucky.  In  vain  I 
represented  to  him  that  I  had  never  travelled  a 
day's  journey  from  his  plantation,  and  knew 
nothing  of  the  way,  or  the  means  of  getting  to 
Kentucky.  He  insisted  that  such  a  smart  feUow 
as  I  could  travel  anywhere,  he  promised  to  give 
me  all  necessary  instructions,  and  urged  that  this 
was  the  only  course  by  which  he  could  be  saved. 
The  result  was,  that  I  agreed  to  undertake  the  en 
terprise —  certainly  no  light  one  for  me,  as  it  .could 
scarcely  be  considered  for  even  an  experienced 
manager.  There  were  eighteen  negroes,  besides 
my  wife,  two  children,  and  myself,  to  transport 
nearly  a  thousand  miles,  through  a  country  I 
knew  nothing  about,  and  in  winter  time,  for  we 
started  in  the  month  of  February,  1825.  My 
master  proposed  to  follow  me  in  a  few  months, 
and  establish  himself  in  Kentucky.  He  furnished 
me  with  a  small  sum  of  money,  and  some  pro- 
Visions;  and  1  bought  a  one-horse  wagon,  to 
"carry  them,  and  to  give  the  women  and  children 
a  lift  now  and  then,  and  the  rest  of  us  were  to 
trudge  on  foot.  Fortunately  for  the  success  of 
the  undertaking,  these  people  had  been  long  under 
my  direction,  and  were  devotedly  attached  to  me 
for  the  many  alleviations  I  had  afforded  to  their 
miserable  condition,  the  comforts  I  had  procured 


LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HENSON.  23 

them,  and  the  consideration  which  I  had  always 
manifested  for  them. 

Under  these  circumstances  no  difficulty  arose 
from  want  of  submission  to  my  authority,  and 
none  of  any  sort,  except  that  which  I  necessarily 
encountered  from  my  ignorance  of  the  country, 
and  my  inexperience  in  such  business.  On 
arriving  at  Wheeling,  I  sold  the  horse  and  wagon, 
an^d  purchased  a  boat  of  sufficient  size,  and 
floated  down  the  river  without  further  trouble  or 
fatigue,  stopping  every  night  to  encamp. 

I  said  I  had  no  further  trouble,  but  there  was 
one  source  of  anxiety  which  I  was  compelled  to 
encounter,  and  a  temptation  I  had  to  resist,  the 
strength  of  which  others  can  appreciate  as  well  as 
myself.  In  passing  along  the  State  of  Ohio,  we 
were  frequently  told  that  we  were  free,  if  we 
chose  to  be  so.  At  Cincinnati,  especially,  the 
colored  people  gathered  round  us,  and  urged  us 
with  much  importunity  to  remain  with  them; 
told  us  it  was  folly  to  go  on ;  and  in  short  used 
all  the  arguments  now  so  familiar  to  induce  slaves 
to  quit  their  masters.  My  companions  probably 
had  little  perception  of  the  nature  of  the  boon 
that  was  offered  to  them,  and  were  willing  to  do 
just  as  I  told  them,  without  a  wish  to  judge  for 
themselves.  Not  so  with  me.  From  my  earliest 
recollection,  freedom  had  been  the  object  of  my 
ambition,  a  constant  motive  to  exertion,  an  ever- 
present  stimulus  to  gain  and  to  save.  No  other 
means  of  obtaining  it,  however,  had  occurred  to 


24  LIFE     OF      JOSIAH      HEN  SON. 

me,  but  purchasing  myself  of  my  master.  The 
idea  of  running  away  was  not  one  that  I  had 
ever  indulged.  I  had  a  sentiment  of  honor  on 
the  subject,  or  what  I  thought  such,  which  I 
would  not  have  violated  even  for  freedom  ;  and 
every  cent  which  I  had  ever  felt  entitled  to  call 
my  own,  had  been  treasured  up  for  this  great 
purpose,  till  I  had  accumulated  between  thirty 
and  forty  dollars.  Now  was  offered  to  me  an 
opportunity  I  had  not  anticipated.  I  might  liber 
ate  my  family,  my  companions,  and  myself,  with 
out  the  smallest  risk,  and  without  injustice  to  any 
individual,  except  one  whom  we  had  none  of  us 
any  reason  to  love,  who  had  been  guilty  of 
cruelty  and  oppression  to  us  all  for  many  years, 
and  who  had  never  shown  the  smallest  symptom 
of  sympathy  with  us,  or  with  any  one  in  our 
condition.  But  I  need  not  make  the  exception. 
There  would  have  been  no  injustice  to  R.  himself 
—  it  would  have  been  a  retribution  which  might 
be  called  righteous  —  if  I  had  availed  myself  of 
the  opportunity  thus  thrust  suddenly  upon  me. 

But  it  was  a  punishment  which  it  was  not  for 
me  to  inflict.  I  had  promised  that  man  to  take 
his  property  to  Kentucky,  and  deposit  it  with  his 
brother  ;  and  this,  and  this  only,  I  resolved  to  do. 
I  left  Cincinnati  before  night,  though  I  had  in 
tended  to  remain  there,  and  encamped  with  my 
entire  party  a  few  miles  below  the  city.  What 
advantages  I  may  have  lost,  by  thus  throwing 
away  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  freedom,  I 


LIFE     OF      JOSIAH      HENSON.  25 

know  not;  but  the  perception  of  my  own  strength 
of  character,  the  feeling  of  integrity,  the  senti 
ment  of  high  honor,  I  have  experienced,  —  these 
advantages  I  do1  know,  and  prize ;  and  would  not, 
lose  them,  nor  the  recollection  of  having  at 
tained  them,  for  all  that  I  can  imagine  to  have 
resulted  from  an  earlier  release  from  bondage.  I 
have  often  had  painful  doubts  as  to  the  propriety 
of  my  carrying  so  many  other  individuals  into 
slavery  again,  and  my  consoling  reflection  has 
been,  that  I  acted  as  I  thought  at  the  time  was 
best. 

I  arrived  at  Daviess  county,  Kentucky,  about 
the  middle  of  April,  1825,  and  delivered  myself 
and  my  companions  to  Mr.  Amos  R.,  the  brother 
of  my  owner,  who  had  a  large  plantation,  with 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  negroes.  His  house 
was  situated  about  five  miles  south  of  the  Ohio 
River,  and  fifteen  miles  above  the  Yellow  Banks, 
on  Big  Blackford's  Creek.  There  I  remained 
three  years,  expecting  my  master  to  follow ;  and 
employed  meantime  on  the  farm,  of  which  I  had 
the  general  management,  in  consequence  of  the 
recommendation  for  ability  and  honesty  which  I 
brought  with  me  from  Maryland.  The  situation 
was  in  many  respects  more  comfortable  than  that 
I  had  left.  The  farm  was  larger,  and  more  fer 
tile,  and  there  was  a  greater  abundance  of  food, 
which  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  principal  sources 
of  the  comfort  of  a  slave,  debarred,  as  he  is,  from 
so  many  enjoyments  which  other  men  can  obtain. 


ZO  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HENSON. 

Sufficiency  of  food  is  a  pretty  important  item  in 
any  man's  account  of  life  ;  but  is  tenfold  more  so 
in  that  of  the  slave,  whose  appetite  is  always 
stimulated  by  as  much  labor  as  he  can  perform, 
and  whose  mind  is  little  occupied  by  thought  on 
subjects  of  deeper  interest.  My  post  of  superin 
tendent  gave  me  some  advantages,  toox  of  which 
I  did  not  fail  to  avail  myself,  particularly  with 
regard  to  those  religious  privileges,  which,  since 
I  first  heard  of.  Christ  and  Christianity,  had 
greatly  occupied  my  mind.  In  Kentucky,  the 
opportunities  of  attending  on  the  preaching  of 
whites,  as  well  as  of  blacks,  were  more  numerous ; 
and  partly  by  attending  them,  and  the  camp- 
meetings  which  occurred  from  time  to  time,  and 
partly  from  studying  carefully  my  own  heart, 
and  observing  the  developments  of  character 
around  me,  in  all- the  stations  of  life  which  I 
could  watch,  I  became  better  acquainted  with 
those  religious  feelings  which  are  deeply  im 
planted  in  the  breast  of  every  human  being,  and 
learnt  by  practice  how  best  to  arouse  them,  and 
keep  them  excited,  how  to  stir  up  the  callous  and 
indifferent,  and  in  general  to  produce  some  good 
religious  impressions  on  the  ignorant  and  thought 
less  community  by  which  I  was  surrounded. 

No  great  amount  of  theological  knowledge  is 
requisite  for  the  purpose.  If  it  had  been,  it  is 
manifest  enough  that  preaching  never  could  have 
been  my  vocation ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that, 
speaking  from  the  fulness  of  a  heart  deeply 


LIFE      OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  27 

impressed  with  its  own  sinfulness  and  imperfec 
tion,  and  with  the  mercy  of  God,  in  Christ  Jesus, 
my  humble  ministrations  have  not  been  entirely 
useless  to  those  who  have  had  less  opportunity 
than  myself  to  reflect  upon  these  all-important 
subjects.  It  is  certain  that  I  could  not  refrain 
from  the  endeavor  to  do  what  I  saw  others  doing 
in  this  field  ;  and  I  labored  at  once  to  improve 
myself  and  those  about  me  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  harvests  which  ripen  only  in  eternity.  I  can 
not  but  derive  some  satisfaction,  too,  from  the 
proofs  I  have  had  that  my  services  have  been 
acceptable  to  those  to  whom  they  have  been  ren 
dered.  In  the  course  of  the  three  years  from 
1825  to  1828,  I  availed  myself  of  all  the  oppor 
tunities  of  improvement  which  occurred,  and 
was  admitted  as  a  preacher  by  a  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  182S,  news  arrived 
from  my  master  that  he  was  unable  to  induce  his 
wife  to  accompany  him  to  Kentucky,  and  he  must 
therefore  remain  where  he  was.  He  sent  out  an 
agent  to  sell  all  his  slaves  but  me  and  my  family, 
and  to  carryback  the  proceeds  to  him.  And  now 
another  of  those  heart-rending  scenes  was  to  be 
witnessed,  which  had  impressed  itself  so  deeply  on 
my  childish  soul.  Husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children  were  to  be  separated  forever.  Affec 
tions,  which  are  as  strong  in  the^African  as  in  the 
European  were  to  be  cruelly  disregarded ;  and  the 
iron  selfishness  generated  by  the  hateful  "institu- 


28  LIFE      OF     JOSIAH     BENSON. 

tion  "  was  to  be  exhibited  in  its  most  odious  and 
naked  deformity.  I  .was  exempted  from  a  per 
sonal  share  in  the  dreadful  calamity,  but  I  could 
not  see  without  the  deepest  grief  the  agony  which 
I  recollected  in  my  own  mother,  and  which  was 
again  brought  before  my  eyes  in  the  persons  with 
whom  I  had  been  long  associated ;  nor  could  I 
refrain  from  the  bitterest  feeling  of  hatred  of  the 
system  and  those  who  sustain  it.  What  else,  in 
deed,  can  be  .the  feeling  of  the  slave,  liable  at 
every  moment  of  his  life  to  these  frightful  and 
unnecessary  calamities,  which  may  be  caused  by 
the  caprice  of  the  abandoned,  or  the  supposed 
necessities  of  the  better  part  of  the  slaveholders, 
and  inflicted  upon  him  without  sympathy  or  re 
dress,  under  the  sanction  of  the  laws  which  uphold 
the  institution  ?  I  lamented  my  agency  in  bring 
ing  the  poor  creatures  hither,  if  such  was  to  be 
the  end  of  the  expedition  ;  but  I  could  not  re 
proach  myself  with  having  made  their  condition 
really  worse,  nor  with  any  thing  but  complying 
with  the  commands  of  a  heartless  master. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  of  182S,  a  Method 
ist  preacher,  a  white  man  of  some  reputation, 
visited  our  neighborhood,  and  I  became  acquaint 
ed  with  him.  He  was  soon  interested  in  me,  and 
visited  me  frequently,  and  one  day  talked  to  me 
in  a  confidential  manner  about  my  position.  He 
said  I  ought  to  be  free;  that  I  had  too  much  ca 
pacity  to  be  confined  to  the  limited  and  compara 
tively  useless  sphere  of  a  slave;  "and  though," 


LIFE      OF      JOSIAH     BENSON.  29 

said  he,  "I  must  not  be  known  to  have  spoken  to 
you  on  this  subject,  yet  if  you  will  obtain  Mr. 
Amos's  consent  to  go  to  see  your  old  master  in 
Maryland,  I  will  try  and  put  you  in  a  way  by 
which  I  think  you  may  succeed  in  buying  your 
self.^  He  said  this  to  rue  more  than  once;  and 
as  it  was  in  harmony  with  all  my  aspirations  and 
wishes,  was  flattering  to  my  self-esteem,  and 
could  be  attended  with  no  harm  that  I  could 
foresee,  I  soon  resolved  to  make  the  attempt  to 
get  the  necessary  leave.  Somewhat  to  my  sur 
prise,  Master  Amos  made  no  objection  ;  but  gave 
me  a  pass  to  go  to  Maryland  and  back,  with 
some  remarks  which  showed  his  sense  of  the 
value  of  my  services  to  him,  and  his  opinion  that 
I  had  earned  such  a  privilege  if  I  desired  it. 
Furnished  with  this,  and  with  a,  letter  of  recom 
mendation  from  my  Methodist  friend  to  a  brother 
preacher  in  Cincinnati,  I  started  about  the  middle 
of  September,  1828,  for  the  east.  By  the  aid  of 
the  good  man  to  whom  I  had  a  letter,  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  preaching  in  two  or  three  of  the 
pulpits  of  Cincinnati,  when  I  took  the  opportunity 
of  stating  my  purpose,  and  was  liberally  aided  in 
it  by  contributions  made  on  the  spot.  My  friend 
also  procured  some  subscriptions  in  the  city,  so 
that  in  three  or  four  days  I  left  it  with  not  less 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  in  my  pocket. 
The  annual  Methodist  Conference  was  about  to 
be  held  at  Chillicothe,  to  which  my  kind  friend 
accompanied  me,  and  by  his  influence  and  exer- 


30  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH      HENSON. 

tions  I  succeeded  well  there  also.  By  his  advice 
I  then  purchased  a  suit  of  respectable  clothes, 
and  an  excellent  horse,  arid  travelled  leisurely 
from  town  to  town,  preaching  as  I  went,  and, 
wherever  circumstances  were  favorable,  soliciting 
aid  in  my  great  object.  I  succeeded  so  well,  that 
when  I  arrived  at  Montgomery  county,  I  was 
master  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars, 
besides  my  horse  and  my  clothes.  My  master 
was  surprised  to  see  me  dressed  and  mounted  in 
so  respectable  a  ,style,  and  I  must  say  my  horse 
was  a  good  one,  and  my  clothes  better  than  Mr. 
R.'s;  and  he  was  a  little  puzzled  to  understand 
why  I  was  so  long  in  reaching  home,  for  it  was 
now  Christmas,  and  he  had  been  info:med  that  I 
had  left  Kentucky  in  September.  I  gave  him 
such  an  account  of  my  preaching  and  getting  the. 
assistance  of  friends,  as,  while  it  was  consistent 
with  the  truth,  and  explained  my  appearance, 
did  not  betray  to  him  my  principal  purpose. 
Amid  expressions  of  an  apparently  cordial  wel 
come,  I' could  discern  plainly  enough  the  look  of 
displeasure  that  a  slave  should  have  got  possession 
of  such  luxuries  ;  and  he  bantered  me  not  a  little, 
in  his  coarse  way,  upon  my  preaching,  and  my 
being  so  speedily  converted  into  a  "  black  gentle 
man,"  He  asked  for  my  pass,  and  saw  that  it 
was  expressed  so  as  to  authorize  my  return  to 
Kentucky.  He  then  handed  it  to  his  wife,  and 
desired  her  to  put  it  into  the  desk.  The  manoeu 
vre  was  cool,  but  I  resolved  to  manoeuvre  too. 


LIFE     OF      JOSIAH      HENSON.  31 

At  night  I  was  sent  to  such  quarters  as  I  had 
been  accustomed  to  long  enough,  —  the  cabin 
used  for  a  kitchen,  with  its  earth  floor,  its  filth, 
and  its  numerous  occupants;  —  but  it  was  so 
different  from  my  accommodations  in  the  free 
States  for  the  last  three  months,  and  so  incom- 
.  patible  with  my  nice  wardrobe,  that  I  looked 
round  me  with  a  sensation  of  disgust  that  was 
new  to  me;  and  instead  of  going  to  sleep,  I  sat 
down  and  deliberated  upon  the  best  plan  to  adopt 
for  my  next  proceedings.  I  found  my  mother  had 
died  during  my  absence,  and  every  tie  which  had 
ever  connected  me  with  this  place  was  broken. 
Strangers  were  around  me  here,  the  slaves  being 
those  Mrs.  R.  had  brought  to  her  husband,  and  I 
had  not  a  friend  to  consult  but  Master  Frank,  the 
brother  of  R.;s  wife,  before  mentioned,  who  was 
now  of  age.  and  had  established  himself  in  busi 
ness  in  Washington.  To  him  I  resolved  to  go, 
and  as  soon  as  I  thought  it  time  to  start,  I  saddled 
my  horse  and  rode  up  to  the  house.  It  was  early 
in  the  morning,  and  my  master  had  already  gone 
to  the  tavern  on  his  usual  business,  but  Mrs.  R. 
came  out  to  look  at  my  horse  and  equipments. 
"Where  are  you  going,  'Siah?"  was  the  natural 
question.  I  replied,  "  I  am  going  to  Washington, 
Mistress,  to  see  Mr.  Frank,  and  I  must  take  my 
pass  with  me  if  you  please."  "  O,  everybody 
knows  you  here;  you  won't  need  your  pass." 
"  But  I  can't  go  to  Washington  without  it.  I 
may  be  met  by  some  surly  stranger,  who  will 


32  LIFE      OF     JOSIAH      HENSON. 

stop  me  and  plague  me,  if  he  can't  do  any  thing 
worse."  "Well,  I'll  get  it  for  you,"  she  an 
swered  ;  and  glad  was  I  to  see  her  return  with  it 
in  her  hand,  and  to  have  her  give  it  to  me,  while 
she  little  imagined  its  importance  to  my  plan. 

My  reception  by  Master  Frank  was  all  I  ex 
pected,  as  kind  and  hearty  as  possible.  He  was 
delighted  at  my  appearance,  and  I  immediately 
told  him  all  my  plans  and  hopes.  He  entered 
cordially  into  them, With  that  sympathy  which 
penetrates  the  heart  of  a  slave,  as  little  accus 
tomed  as  I  had  been,  to  the  exhibition  of  any  such 
feeling  on  the  part  of  a  white  man./  I  founcl  he 
had  a  thorough  detestation  of  Mr.  R.,  whom  he 
charged  with  having  defrauded  him  of  a  large 
proportion  of  his  property  which  he  had  held  as 
guardian,  though,  as  he  was  still  on  terms  with 
him,  he  readily  agreed  to  negotiate  for  my  free 
dom,  and  bring  him  to  the  most  favorable  bar 
gain.  Accordingly,  in  a  few  days  he  rode  over 
to  the  house,  and  had  a  long  conversation  with 
R.  on  the  subject  of  my  emancipation.  He  dis 
closed  to  him  the  facts  that  I  had  got  some  money, 
and  my  pass j  and  urged  that  I  was  a  smart  fel 
low,  who  was  bent  upon  getting  his  freedom,  and 
had  served  the  family  faithfully  for  many  years; 
that  I  had  really  paid  for  myself  a  hundred  times 
over,  in  the  increased  amount  of  produce  I  had 
raised  by  my  skill  and  influence ;  and  that  if  he 
did  not  take  care,  and  accept  a  fair  offer  when  I 
made  it  to  him,  he  would  find  some  day  that  I 


LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HENSON.  33 

had  the  means  to  do  without  his  help,  and  that 
he  would  see  neither  me  nqr  my  money ;  that 
with  my  horse  and  my  pass  I  was  pretty  inde 
pendent  of  him  already,  and  he  had  better  make 
up  his  mind  to  what  was  really  inevitable,  and 
do  it  with  a  good  grace.  By  such  arguments  as 
these,  Mr.  Frank  not.  only  induced  him  to  think 
of  the  thing,  but  before  long  brought  him  to  an 
actual  bargain,  by  which  he  agreed  to  give  me  my 
manumission  papers  for  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  of  which  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
were  to  be  in  cash,  and  the  remainder  in  my  note. 
My  money  and  my  horse  enabled  me  to  pay  the 
cash  at  once,  and  thus  my  great  hopes  seemed 
in  a  fair  way  of  being  realized. 

Some  time  was  spent  in  the  negotiations  for 
this  affair,  and  it  was  not  till  the  9th  of  March, 
1829,  that  I  received  my. manumission  papers  in 
due  form  of  law.  I  was  prepared  to  start  imme 
diately  on  my  return  to  Kentucky,  and  on  the 
10th,  as  I  was  getting  ready  in  the  morning  for 
my  journey,  my  master  accosted  me  in  a  very 
pleasant  and  friendly  manner,  and  entered  into 
conversation  with  me  about  my  plans.  He  asked 
me  what  I  was  going  to  do  with  my  freedom  cer 
tificate  ;  whether  I  was  going  to  show  it  if  I  were 
questioned  on  the  road.  I  told  him  yes,  that  I 
supposed  it  was  given  to  me  for  that  very  pur 
pose.  "Ah,"  said  he,  u  you  do  not  understand 
the  dangers  to  which  you  are  exposed.  You  may 
meet  with  some  ruffian  slave-purchaser  who  will 
3 


34  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      BENSON. 

rob  you  of  that  piece  of  paper,  and  destroy  it. 
You  will  then  be  thrown  into  prison,  and  sold  for 
your  jail  fees,  before  any  of  your  friends  can  know 
it.  Why  should  you  show  it  at  all?  You  can 
go  to  Kentucky  in  perfecft  safety  with  your  pass. 
Let  me  enclose  that  valuable  document  for  you 
under  cover  to  my  brother,  and  nobody  will  dare 
to  break  a  seal,  for  that  is  a  State  prison  matter ; 
and  when  you,arrive  in  Kentucky  you  will  have 
it  all  safe  and  sound."  This  seemed  most  friendly 
advice,  and  I  fell  very  grateful  for  his  kindness. 
I  accordingly  saw  him  enclose  my  precious  piece 
of  paper  in  two  or  three  envelopes,  seal  it  with 
three  seals,  and  direct  it  to  his  brother  in  Daviess 
County,  Kentucky,  in  my  care.  Leaving  imme 
diately  for  Wheeling,  to  which  place  I  was  obliged 
to  travel  on  foot,  I  there  took  boat,  and  in  due 
time  reached  my  destination.  I  was  arrested 
repeatedly  on  the  way,  but  by  insisting  always 
upon  being  carried  before  a  magistrate,  1  suc 
ceeded  in  escaping  all  serious  impediments  by 
means  of  my  pass,  which  was  quite  regular,  and 
could  not  be  set  aside  by  any  responsible  authority. 
It  so  happened  that  the  boat  which  took  me 
down  from  Louisville,  landed  me  about  dark,  and 
my  walk  of  five  miles  brought  me  to  the  planta 
tion  at  bed-time.  I  went  directly  to  my  own 
cabin,  where  I  found  my  wife  and  little  ones  well  ; 
and  of  course,  we  had  a  good  deal  to  communicate 
to  each  other.  Letters  had  reached  the  "  great 
fcouse,"  as  the  master's  was  always  called,  long 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH      HENSON.  35 

before  I  had  arrived,  telling  them  what  I  had  been 
doing,  and  the  children  of  the  family  had  been 
eager  to  communicate  the  great  news  to  my  wife, 
—  how  I  had  been  preaching,  and  raising  money, 
and  making  a  bargain  for  my  freedom.  It  was 
not  long  before  Charlotte  began  to  tell  me  with 
much  excitement  what  she  had  heard,  and  to 
question  me  about  how  1  had  raised  the  money  I 
had  paid,  and  how  I  expected  to  get  the  remain 
der  of  the  thousand  dollars  I  was  to  give  for  my 
freedom.  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  ears;  but 
before  telling  her  how  the  case  exactly  was,  I 
questioned  her  again  and  again  as  to  what  she  had 
heard.  She  persisted  in  repeating  the  same  story 
as  she  had  heard  it  from  my  master's  letters,  and 
I  began  to  perceive  the  trick  that  had  been  played 
upon  me,  and  to  see  the  management  by  which 
Isaac  R.  had  contrived  that  the  only  evidence  of 
my  freedom  should  be  kept  from  every  eye  but 
that  of  his  brother  Amos,  who  was  instructed  to- 
retain  it  till  I  had  made  up  six  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  the  balance  I  was  reported  to  have  agreed 
to  pay.  Indignation  is  a  faint  word  to  express 
my  deep  sense  of  such  villainy.  I  was  without 
the  means  of  setting  myself  right.  The  only 
witness  to  the  truth  was  my  friend  Frank,  who 
was  a  thousand  miles  off;  and  I  could  neither 
write  to  him,  nor  get  any  one  else  to  do  it. 
Every  man  about  me  who  could  write  was  a 
slaveholder ;  and  what  chance  had  I  to  be  believed, 
or  to  get  evidence  to  the  truth.  In  this  dilemma 


36  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HENSON. 

I  resolved  not  to  deliver  the  paper  to  Amos,  and 
told  my  wife  I  had  not  seen  it  since  I  was  in  Lou 
isville.  It  might  be  in  my  bag,  and  perhaps  it 
was  lost ;  but  at  all  events  I  did  not  wish  to  see 
it  again  at  present;  and  if  she  should  find  it,  and 
put  it  in  some  place  which  I  did  not  know,  it 
would  be  the  best  disposition  of  it.  In  a  few 
minutes  she  went  out,  and  I  remained  in  igno 
rance  where  it  was,  tiH  circumstances,  presently 
to  be  mentione'd,  rendered  it  necessary  for  me  to 
have  it  again. 

The  next  morning  I  went  up  to  the  house,  and 
showed  myself  to  Mr.  Amos,  who  welcomed  me 
with  apparent  cordiality,  and  who,  I  have  no 
doubt,  was  really  glad  to  see  me,  as  my  time  and 
labor  were  important  to  him.  We  had  a  long  con 
versation,  and  after  rallying  me,  as  his  brother 
had  done,  about  my  being  turned  fine  gentleman, 
he  entered  upon  the  subject  "bf  my  freedom,  and 
told  me  what  Isaac  had  written  to  him  about  the 
price  I  was  to  pay,  how  much  I  had  already  made 
up,  &c.  I  found  my  wife  was  right.  He  then 
asked  me  if  I  had  not  a  paper  for  him.  I  told  him 
I  certainly  had  received  something  for  him,  of 
which  I  had  taken  the  greatest  care;  but  that  the 
last  time  I  had  seen  it  was  at  Louisville,  and  that 
DOW  it  was  not  in  my  bag,  and  I  did  not  know 
what  had  become  of  it.  I  could  not  conceive  how 
it  could  be  lost,  and  yet  I  could  not  find  it.  He 
expressed  great  concern,  and  sent  me  back  to  the 
landing  to  see  if  it  had  been  dropped  on  the  way. 


LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HENSON.  37 

When  the  search  proved  in  vain,  he  told  me  that, 
after  all,  it  was  of  no  consequence,  for  whenever 
I  made  up  the  money,  his  brother  would  renew 
the  paper.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  you  have  given  too 
much  for  yourself.  Isaac  has  been  too  hard  upon 
you,  and  I  don't  see  how  you  are  going  to  get  so 
much  in  Kentucky." 

All  this  was  very  smooth  and  pleasant  to  a  man 
who  was  in  a  frenzy  of  grief  at  the  base  and  ap 
parently  irremediable  trick  that  had  been  played 
upon  him.  I  consoled  myself  as  well  as  I  could, 
and.  set  about  my  work  again,  with  as  quiet  a 
mind  as  I  could  command,  resolved  to  trust  in 
God,  and  never  despair.  Things  went  on  as 
usual  for  about  a  year,  when,  one  day,  Mr.  Amos 
told  me  that  his  brother  kept  writing  to  him_about 
his  want  of  money ;  and  intimated  that  perhaps 
I  might  be  ready  to  pay  another  instalment  of  my 
price.  I  told  him  I  had  nothing,  as  he  knew  very 
well,  and  that  he  never  had  said  what  he  would 
allow  me,  or  whether  he  would  allow  me  any 
thing  for  my  labor  in  his  service.  That  put  an 
end  to  the  conversation  at  the  time,  for  he  did  not 
like  the  idea  of  paying  for  the  labor  I  had  be 
stowed  on  his  farm,  the  care  of  his  stock  and  of 
his  people.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the 
subject  was  brought  up  again,  and  he  said  Isaac 
was  perpetually  telling  him  he  must  have  money, 
and  added  that  I  must  get  ready  to  go  to  New  Or 
leans  with  his  son  Amos,  a  young  man  about  twen 
ty-one  years  of  age,  who  was  going  down  the  river 


38  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      HEN  SON. 

with  a  flat  boat,  and  was  nearly  ready  to  start ;  in 
fact  he  was  to  leave  the  next  day,  and  I  must  go 
and  take  care  of  him,  and  help  him  dispose  of  the 
cargo.  The  intimation  was  enough.  Though  it 
was  not  distinctly  stated,  yet  I  well  knew  what 
was  intended,  and  my  heart  sunk  within  me  at 
the  near  prospect  of  this  fatal  hlight  to  all  my 
long-cherished  hopes.  There  was  no  alternative 
but  death  itself;  and  I  thought  that  there  was 
hope  as  long  as  there  was  life,  and  I  would  not 
despair  even  yet.  The  expectation  of  my  fate, 
however,  produced  the^degree  of  misery  nearest  to 
that  of  despair  ;  and  it  is  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt 
to  describe  the  wretchedness  I  experienced  as  I 
made  ready  to  go  on  board  the  flat  boat.  I  had 
little  preparation  to  make,  to  be  sure ;  and  there 
was  but  one  thing  that  seemed  to  me  important. 
I  asked  my  wife  to  sew  up  my  manumission  pa 
per  securely  in  a  piece  of  cloth,  and  to  sew  that 
again  round  my  person.  I  thought  that  having 
possession  of  it  might  be  the  means  of  saving  me 
yet,  and  I  would  not  neglect  any  thing  that  offered 
the  smallest  chance  of  escape  from  the  frightful 
servitude  that  threatened  me. 

My  wife  and  children  accompanied  me  to  the 
landing,  where  I  bade  them  an  adieu,  which 
might  be  for  life,  and  them  stepped  into  the  boat, 
which  I  found  manned  by  three  white  men,  who 
had  been  hired  for  the  trip.  Mr.  Amos  and 
myself  were  the  only  other  persons  on  board. 
The  load  consisted  of  beef-cattle,  pigs,  poultry, 


LIFE      OF     JOSJAH      HENSON.  39 

corn'  whiskey,  and  other  articles  from  the  farm, 
and  from  some  of  the  neighboring  estates,  which 
we.re  to  be  sold  as  we  dropped  down  the  river, 
wherever  they  could  be  disposed  of  to  the  greatest 
advantage.  It  was  a  common  trading  voyage  to 
New  Orleans,  in  which  I  was  embarked,  the 
interest  of  which  consisted  not  in  the  incidents 
that  occurred,  not  in  storms,  or  shipwreck,  or 
external  disaster  of  any  sort ;  but  in  the  storm  of 
passions  contending  within  me,  and  the  imminent 
risk  of  the  shipwreck  of  my  soul,  which  was 
impending  over  me  nearly  the  whole  period  of 
the  voyage.  One  circumstance,  only,  I  will  men 
tion,  illustrating,  as  other  events  of  my  life  have 
often  done,  the  counsel  of  the  Saviour,  "  He  that 
will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  ser-" 
vant." 

We  were,  of  course,  all  bound  to  take  our  trick 
at  the  helm  in  turn,  sometimes  under  direction  of 
the  captain,  and  sometimes  on  our  own  responsi 
bility,  as  he  could  not  be  always  awake.  In  the 
daytime  there  was  less  difficulty  than  at  night, 
when  it  required  some  one  who  knew  the  river, 
to  avoid  sand-bars  and  snags,  and  the  captain 
was  the  only  person  on  board  who  had  this  know 
ledge.  But  whether  by  day  or  by  night,  as  I  was 
the  only  negro  on  the  boat,  I  was  made  to  stand 
at  least  three  tricks  to  any  other  person's  one  ;  so 
that  from  being  much  with  the  captain,  And  fre 
quently  thrown  upon  my  own  exertions,  I  learnt 
the  art  of  steering  and  managing  the  boat  far  bet- 


40  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HFNSON. 

ter  than  the  rest.  I  watched  the  manoBUvres 
necessary  to  shoot  by  a  sawyer,  to  land  on  a 
bank,  or  avoid  a  snag,  or  a  steamboat,  in  the 
rapid  current  of  the  Mississippi,  till  I  could  do  it 
as  well  as  the  captain.  After  a  while  the  captain 
had  a  disease  of  the  eyes,  by  which  they  became 
very  much  inflamed  and  swollen.  He  was  soon 
rendered  totally  blind,  and  unable  to  perform  his 
share  of  duty.  This  disorder  is  not  an  infrequent 
consequence  of  exposure  to  the  intense  light  of  the 
sun,  doubled  as  it  is  by  the  reflection  from  the 
river.  I  was  the  person  who  could  best  take  his 
place,  and  I  was,  in  fact,  master  of  the  boat  from 
that  time  till  our  arrival  at  New  Orleans. 

After  the  captain  became  blind,  we  were 
obliged  to  lie  by  at  night,  as  none  of  the  rest  of 
us  had  been  down  the  river  before  ;  and  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  watch  all  night,  to  prevent 
depredations  by  the  negroes  on  shore,  who  used 
frequently  to  attack  such  boats  as  ours,  for  the 
sake  of  the  provisions  on  board.  As  I  paced 
backwards  and  forwards  on  the  deck,  duriqg  my 
watch,  it  may  welt  be  believed  I  revolved  many 
a  painful  and  passionate  thought.  After  all  that 
I  had  done  for  Isaac  and  Amos  R.,  after  all  the 
regard  they  professed  for  me,  and  the  value  they 
could  not  but  put.  upon  me,  such  a  return  as  this 
for  my  services,  such  an  evidence  of  their  utter 
inattention  to  my  claims  upon  them,  and  the 
intense  selfishness  with  which  they  were  ready  to 
sacrifice  me,  at  any  moment,  to  their  supposed 


LIFE      OF      JOS1AH      BENSON.  41 

interest,  turned  my  blood  to  gall  and  wormwood, 
and  changed  me  from  a  lively,  and  I  will  say,  a 
pleasant-tempered  fellow,  into  a  savage,  morose, 
dangerous  slave.  I  was  going  not  at  all  as  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter,  but  I  felt  myself  becoming 
more  ferocious  every  day;  and  as  we  approached 
the  place  where  this  iniquity  was  to  be  consum 
mated,  I  became  more  and  more  agitated  with  an 
almost  uncontrollable  fury.  I  had  met,  on  the 
passage,  with  some  of  my  Maryland  acquaintance 
who  had  been  sold  off  to  this  region ;  and  their 
haggard  and  wasted  appearance  told  a  piteous 
story  of  excessive  labor  and  insufficient  food.  I 
said  to  myself,  "If  this  is  to  be  my  lot,  I  cannot 
.survive  it  long.  I  am  not  so  young  as  these  men, 
and  if  it  has  brought  them  to  such  a  condition,  it 
will  soon  kill  me.  I  am  to  be  taken  by  my  mas 
ters  and  owners,  who  ought  to  be  my  grateful 
friends,  to  a  place  and  a  condition  where  my  life 
is  to  be  shortened,  as  well  as  made  more  wretched. 
Why  should  I  not  prevent  this  wrong,  if  I  can,  by 
shortening  their  lives,  or  those  of  their  'agents  in 
accomplishing  such  detestable  injustice?  I  can 
do  the  last  easily  enough.  They  have  no  suspi 
cion  of  me,  and  they  are  at  this  moment  under 
my  control,  and  in  my  power.  There  are  many 
ways  in  which  I  can  despatch  them  and  escape, 
and  I  feel  that  I  should  be  justified  in  availing 
myself  of  the  first  good  opportunity."  These  were 
not  though'ts  which  just  flitted  a'cjoss  my  mind's 
/  eye,  and  then  disappeared.  They  fashioned 


42  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH      BENSON. 

themselves  into  shapes  which  grew  larger,  and 
seemed  firmer,  every  time  they  presented  them 
selves;  and  at  length  my  mind  was  made  up  to 
convert  the  phantom  shadow  into  a  positive  real 
ity.  I  resolved  to  kill  my  four  companions,  take 
what  money  there  was  in  the  boat,  then  to  scut 
tle  the  craft,  and  escape  to  the  north.  It  was  a 
poor  plan,  may-be,  and  would  very  likely  have 
failed  ;  but  it  was  as  well  contrived,  under  the 
circumstances,  as  the  plans  of  murderers  usually 
are  ;  and  blinded  by  passion,  and  stung  to  mad 
ness  as  I  was,  I  could  not  see  any  difficulty  about 
it.  One  dark,  rainy  night,  within  a  few  days  of 
New  Orleans,  my  hour  seemed  to  have  come.  I 
was  alone  on  the  deck  ;  Mr.  Amos  and  the  hands 
were  all  asleep  below,  and  I  crept  down  noise 
lessly,  got  hold  of  an  axe,  entered  the  cabin,  and 
looking  by  the  aid  of  the  dim  light  there  for  my 
victims,  my  eye  fell  upon  xMaster  Amos,  who  was 
nearest  to  me ;  my  hand  slid  along  the  axe- 
handle,  I  raised  it  to  strike  the  fatal  blow,  —  when 
suddenly  the  thought  came  tome,  "  What!  com 
mit  murder!  and  you  a  Christian?  "  I  had  not 
called  it  murder  before.  It  was  self-defence,  — 
it  was  preventing  others  from  murdering  me,  — 
it  was  justifiable,  it  was  even  praiseworthy. 
But  now,  all  at  once,  the  truth  burst  upon  me 
that  it  was  a  crime.  I  was  going  to  kill  a  young 
man,  who  had  done  nothing  to  injure  me,  but 
obey  commands  which  he  could  not  res'ist ;  I  ivas 
about  to  lose  the  fruit  of  all  my  efforts  at  self- 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH      HENSON.  43 

improvement,  the  character  I  had  acquired,  and 
the  peace  of  mind  which  had  never  deserted  me. 
All  this  came  upon  me  instantly,  and  with  a  dis 
tinctness  which  made  me  almost  think  I  heard  it 
whispered  in  my  ear;  and  I  believe  I  even  turned 
my  head  to  listen.  I  shrunk  back,  laid  down 
the  axe,  crept  up  on  deck  again,  and  thanked 
God,  as"  I  have  done  every  day  since,  that  I  had 
not  committed  murder. 

My  feelings  were  still  agitated,  but  they  were 
changed.  I  was  filled  with  shame  and  remorse  for 
the  design  I  had  entertained,  and  with  the  fear  that 
my  companions  would  detect  it  in  my  face,  or  that 
a  careless  word  would  betray  my  guilty  thoughts. 
I  remained  on  deck  all  night,  instead  of  rousing 
one  of  the  men  to  relieve  me,  and  nothing  brought 
composure  to  my  mind,  but  the  solemn  resolution 
I  then  made  to  resign  myself  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  take  with  thankfulness,  if  I  could,  but  with 
submission,  at  all  events,  whatever  he  might 
decide'should  be  my  lot.  I  reflected  that  if  my 
life  were  reduced  to  a  brief  term,  I  should  have 
less  to  suffer,  and  that  it  was  better  to  die  with  a 
Christian's  hope,  and  a  quiet  conscience,  than  to 
live  with  the  incessant  recollection  of  a  crime 
that  would  destroy  the  value  of  life,  and  under 
the  weight  of  a  secret  that  would  crush  out  the 
satisfaction  that  might  be  expected  from  freedom 
and  every  other  blessing. 

It  was  long  before  I  recovered  my  self-control 
and  serenity ;  but  I  believe  no  one  but  those  to 


44  LIFE     OF      JOSIAH      BENSON. 

whom  I  have  told  the  story  myself,  ever  sus 
pected  me  of  having  entertained  such  thoughts 
for  a  moment. 

In  a  few  days  after  this  tremendous  crisis  we 
arrived  in  New  Orleans,  and  the  little  that  re 
mained  of  our  cargo  was  soon  sold,  the  men  were 
discharged,  and  nothing  was  left  but  to  dispose  of 
me,  and  break  up  the  boat,  and  then  Mr.  Amos 
would  take  passage  on  a  steamboat,  and  go  home. 
There  was  no  longer  any  disguise  about  the  pur 
pose  of  selling  me.  Mr.  Amos  acknowledged 
that  such  were  his  instructions,  and  he  set  about 
fulfilling  them.  Several  planters  came  to  the 
boat  to  look  at  me;  and  I  was  sent  of  some  hasty 
errand,  that  they  might  see  how  I  could  run. 
My  points  were  canvassed  as  those  of  a  horse 
would  have  been ;  and  doubtless  some  account  of 
my  human  faculties  was  thrown  into  the  discus 
sion  of  the  bargain,  that  my  value  as  a  domestic 
animal  might  be  enhanced.  Amos  had  talked, 
with  apparent  kindness,  about  getting  me  a  good 
master,  who  would  employ  me  as  a  coachman, 
or  as  a  house-servant;  but  as  time  passed  on  I 
could  discern  no  particular  effort  of  the  kind. 
At  length  every  thing  was  wound  up  but  this 
single  affair.  The  boat  was  to  be  sold,  and  I 
was  to  be  sold,  the  next  day,  and  Amos  was  to 
set  off  on  his  return,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  I  could  not  sleep  that  night,  which  seemed 
long  enough  to  me,  though  it  was  one  of  the 
shortest  in  the  year.  The  slow  way  in  which 


LIFE      OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON.  45 

we  had  come  down  had  brought  us  to  the  long 
days  and  the  heat  of  June  •  and  everybody  knows 
what  tbfe  climate  of  New  Orleans  is  at  that  time 
of  the  year. 

A  little  before  daylight  master  Amos  awoke 
indisposed.  His  stomach  was  disordered,  but  he 
lay  down  again,  thinking  it  would  pass  off.  In 
a  little  while  he  was  up  again,  and  felt  more  sick 
than  before,  and  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  river 
fever  was  upon  him.  He  became  rapidly  worse, 
jand  by  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  was  utterly 
prostrate ;  his  head  was  on  my  lap,  and  he  was 
begging  me  to  help  him,  to  do  something  for  him, 
to  save  him.  The  tables  were  turned.  He  was 
now  rather  more  dependent  upon  me  than  I  had 
been  upon  him  the  day  before.  He  entreated  me 
to  despatch  matters,  to  sell  the  flat  boat,  in  which 
we  two  had  been  living  by  ourselves  for  some 
days,7and  to  get  him  and  his  trunk,  containing 
the  proceeds  of  the  tripx  on  board  the  steamer  as 
quick  as  possible,  and  especially  not  to  desert  him 
so  long  as  he  lived,  nor  to  surfer  his  body,  if  he 
died,  to  be  thrown  into  the  rivep.  I  attended  to 
all  his  requests,  and  by  twelve  o'clock  that  day, 
he  was  in  one  of  the  cabins  of  the  steamer  appro 
priated  to  sick  passengers.  * 

All  was  done  which  could  be  done  for  the  com 
fort  and  relief  of  any  one  in  such  a  desperate  con 
dition.  But  he  was  reduced  to  extremity.  He 
ceased  to  grow  worse  after  a  day  or  two,  and  he 
must  speedily  have  died,  if  he  had  not;  but  his 


46  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      BENSON. 

strength  was  so  entirely  gone,  that  he  could 
neither  speak,  nor  move  a  limb  ;  and  could  only 
indicate  his  wish  for  a  teaspoon ful  of  gruel,  or 
something  to  moisten  his  throat,  by  a  feeble 
motion  of  his  lips.  I  nursed  him  carefully  and 
constantly.  Nothing  else  could  have  saved  his 
life.  It  hung  by  a  thread  for  a  long  time.  \Ve 
were  as  much  as  twelve  days  in  reaching  home, 
for  the  water  was  low  at  that  season,  particularly 
in  the  Ohio  river ;  and  when  we  arrived  at  our 
landing  he  was  still  unable  to  speak,  and  could 
only  be  moved  on  a  sheet,  or  a  litter.  Something 
of  this  sort  was  soon  fixed  up  at  the  landing,  on 
which  he  could  be  carried  to  the  house,  which 
was  five  miles  off;  and  I  got  a  party  of  the 
slaves  belonging  to  the  estate  to  form  relays  for 
the  purpose.  As  we  approached  the  house,  the 
surprise  at  seeing  me  back  again,  and  the  per 
plexity  to  imagine  what  I  was  bringing  along, 
with  such  a  party,  were  extreme;  but  the  dis 
covery  was  soon  made  which  explained  the 
strange  appearance  ;  and  the  grief  of  father  and 
mother,  and  brothers  and  sisters,  made  itself  seen 
and  hoard.  Loud  and  long  were  the  lamenta 
tions  over  poor  Arnos ;  and  when  the  family 
came  a  little  to  themselves,  great  were  the  com 
mendations  bestowed  upon  me,  for  my  care  of 
him  and  of  the  property. 

We  arrived  home  about  the  tenth  of  July,  but 
it  was  not  till  the  middle  of  August  that  Amos 
was  well  enough  to  move  out  of  his  chamber, 


LIFE      OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  47 

though  he  had  been  convalescent  all  the  while. 
As  soon  as  he  could  speak,  he  told  all  I  had  done 
for  him,  and  said,  "If  I  had  sold  him,  I  should 
have  died ;  "  but  it  never  seemed  to  occur  to  him 
or  the  rest  of  the  family  that  they  were  under 
any,  the  slightest,  obligation  to  me  on  that 
account.  I  had  done  well  as  a  slave,  and  to 
have  it  acknowledged,  and  to  be  praised  for  it, 
was  compensation  enough  for  me.  My  merits, 
whatever  they  were,  instead  of  exciting  sympa 
thy,  or  any  feeling  of  attachment  to  me,  seemed 
only  to  enhance  my  money  value  to  them.  This 
was  not  the  view  which  I  took  of  the  case 
myself;  and  as  soon  as  Amos  began  to  recover,  I 
began  to  meditate  upon  a  plan  of  escape  from  the 
danger,  in  which  I  constantly  stood,  of  a  repeti 
tion  of  the  attempt  10  sell  me  in  the  highest  mar 
ket.  Providence  seemed  to  have  interfered  once 
to  defeat.the  scheme,  but  I  could  not  expect  such 
extraordinary  circumstances  to  be  repeated,  and 
I  was  bound  to  do  every  thing  in  my  power  to 
secure  myself  and  my  family  from  the  wicked 
conspiracy  of  Isaac  and  Amos  R.  against  my  life, 
as  well  as  against  my  natural  rights  in  my  own 
person,  and  those  Which  I  had  acquired,  under 
even  the  barbarous  laws  of  slavery,  by  the  money 
1  had  paid  for  myself.  If  Isaac  would  only  have 
been  honest  enough  to  adhere  to  his  own  bargain, 
I  would  have  adhered  to  mine,  and  paid  him  all 
I  had  promised.  But  his  attempt  to  kidnap  me 
again,  after  having  pocketed  three-fourths  of  my 


48  LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      BENSON. 

market  value,  absolved  me  from  all  obligation,  in 
my  opinion,  to  pay  him  any  more,  or  to  continue 
in  a  position  which  exposed  me  to  his  machina 
tions.  I  determined  to  make  my  escape  to 
Canada,  about  which  I  had  heard  something,  as 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States ;  for,  not 
withstanding  there  were  free  States  in  the  Union, 
I  felt  that  I  should  be  safer  under  an  entirely 
foreign  jurisdiction.  The  slave  States  had  their 
emissaries  in  the  others,  and  I  feared  that  I  might 
fall  into  their  hands,  and  need  a  stronger  protec 
tion  than  might  be  afforded  me  by  public  opinion 
in  the  northern  States  at  that  time. 

It  was  not  without  long  thought  on  the  subject 
that  I  devised  a  plan  of  escape;  but  when  I  had 
fully  made  tip  my  mind,  I  communicated  my 
intention  to  my  wife,  who  was  too  much  terrified 
by  the  dangers  of  the  attempt  to  do  any  thing,  at 
first,  but  endeavor  to  dissuade  me  from  it,  and 
try  to  make  me  contented  with  my  condition  as 
it  was.  In  vain  I  explained  to  her  the  liability 
we  were  in  of  being  separated  from  our  children 
as  well  as  from  each  other ;  and  presented  every 
argument  which  had  weighed  with  my  own 
mind,  and  had  at  last  decided  me.  She  had  not 
gone  through  my  trials,  and  female  timidity 
overcame  her  sense  of  the  evils  she  had  experi 
enced.  I  argued  the  matter  with  her,  at  various 
times,  till  I  was  satisfied  that  argument  alone 
would  not  prevail ;  and  then  I  said  to  her,  very 
deliberately,  that  though  it  was  a  cruel  thing  for 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     BENSON.  49' 

me  to  part  with  her,  yet  I  would  do  it,  and  take 
all  the  children  with  me  but  the  youngest,  rather 
than  rim  the  risk  of  forcible  separation  from  them 
all,  and  of  a  much  worse  captivity  besides,  which 
we  were  constantly  exposed  to  here.  She  wept 
and  entreated,  but  found  I  was  resolute,  and  after 
a  whole  night  spent  in  talking  over  the  matter,  I 
left  her  to  go  to  my  work  for  the  day.  I  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  heard  her  voice  calling  me;  — I 
waited  till  she  came  up  to  me.  and  then,  finding 
me  as  determined  as  ever,  she  said,  at  last,  she 
would  go  with  me.  It  was  an  immense  relief  to 
my  nerves,  and  my  tears  flowed  as  fast  as  her's 
had  done  before.  I  rode  off  with  a  heart  a  good 
deal  lighter. 

She  was  living,  at  the  time,  near  the  landing  I 
have  mentioned  ;  for  the  plantation  extended  the 
whole  five  miles  from  the  house  to  the  river,  and 
there  were  several  different  farms,  all  of  which  I 
was  overseeing,  and,  therefore,  riding  about  from 
one  to  another  every  day.  The  oldest  boy  was 
at  the  house  with  Master  Amos,  the  rest  were  all 
with  her.  Her  consent  was  given  on  Thursday 
morning,  and  on  the  night  of  the  following  Satur 
day,  I  had  decided  to  set  out,  as  it  would  then  be 
several  days  before  I  should  be  missed,  and  I 
should  get  a  good  start.  Some  time  previously  I 
had  got  my  wife  to  make  me  a  large  knapsack, 
big  enough  to  hold  the  two  smallest  children; 
and  I  had  arranged  it  that  she  should  lead  the 
second  boy,  while  the  oldest  was  stout  enough  to 
4 


50  LIFE      OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON. 

go  by  himself,  and  to  help  me  carry  the  necessary 
food.  I  used  to  pack  the  little  ones  on  my  back, 
of  an  evening,  after  I  had  got  through  my  day's 
work,  and  trot  round  the  cabin  with  them,  and 
go  some  little  distance  from  it,  in  order  to  accus 
tom  both  them  and  myself  to  the  task  before  us. 

At  length  the  eventful  night  came.  I  went  up 
to  the  house  to  ask  leave  to  take  Tom  home  wiih 
me.  that  he  might  have  his  clothes  mended.  No 
objection  was  made,  and  I  bade  Master  Amos 
"  good  night  "  for  the  last  time.  It  was  about 
the  middle  of  September,  and  by  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  all  was  ready.  It  was  a  dark,  moon 
less  night,  and  we  got  into  the  little  skiff  in  which 
I  had  induced  a  fellow-slave  to  take  us  across  the 
river.  It  was  an  agitating  and  solemn  moment. 
The  good  fellow  who  was  rowing  us  over,  said 
this  affair  might  end  in  his  death;  "but,"  said 
he,  "  you  will  not  be  brought  back  alive,  will 
you?"  "Not  if  I  can  help  it,"  I  answered. 
|C  And  if  you  are  overpowered  and  return,"  he 
asked,  "  will  you  conceal  my  part  of  the  busi 
ness?"  "That  I  will,  so  help  me  God,"  1 
replied.  "  Then  I  am  easy,"  he  answered,  "and 
wish  you  success."  \Ve  landed  on  the  Indiana 
shore,  and  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was  my  own 
master.  But  in  what  circumstances  of  fear  and 
misery  still !  We  were  to  travel  by  night,  and 
rest  by  day,  in  the  woods  and  bushes.  We  were 
thrown  absolutely  upon  our  own  poor  and  small 
resources,  and  were  to  rely  on  our  owji  strength 


LIFE      OF     JOSIAH      HENSON.  51 

alone.  The  population  was  not  so  numerous  as 
now,  nor  so  well  disposed  to  the  slave.  We 
dared  look  to  no  one  for  help.  But  my  courage 
was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  we  trudged  on 
cautiously  and  steadily,  and  as  fast  as  the  dark 
ness,  and  the  feebleness  of  my  wife  and  boys 
would  allow. 

It  was  nearly  a  fortnight  before  we  reached 
Cincinnati;  and  a  day  or  two  previous  to  getting 
there,  our  provisions  were  used  up,  and  I  had  the 
misery  to  hear  the  cry  of  hunger  and  exhaustion 
from  those  I  loved  so  dearly.  It  was  necessary 
to  run  the  risk  of  exposure  by  day-light  upon  the 
road  ;  so  I  sprung  upon  it  boldly  from  our  hiding 
place  one  morning,  and  turned  towards  the  south, 
to  prevent  the  suspicion  of  my  going  the  other 
way.  I  approached  the  first  house  I  saw,  and 
asked  if  they  would  sell  me  a  little  bread  and 
meat.  No,  they  had  nothing  for  black  fellows. 
At  the  next  I  succeeded  better,  but  had  to  make 
as  good  a  bargain  as  I  could,  and  that  was  not 
very  successful,  with  a  man  who  wanted  to  see 
how  little  he  could  give  me  for  my  quarter  of  a 
dollar.  As  soon  as  I  had  succeeded  in  making  a 
purchase,  I  followed  the  road,  still  towards  the 
south,  till  I  got  out  of  sight  of  the  house,  and 
then  darted  into  the  woods  again,  and  returned 
northward,  just  out  of  sight  of  the  road.  The 
food  which  I  bought,  such  as  it  was,  put  new 
life  and  strength  into  my  wife  and  children  when 
I  got  back  to  them  again,  and  we  at  length 


52  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

arrived  safe  at  Cincinnati.  There  we  were 
kindly  received  and  entertained  for  several  days, 
my  wife  and  little  ones  were  refreshed,  and  then 
we  were  carried  on  our  way  thirty  miles  in  a 
wagon. 

We  followed  the  same  course  as  before,  of 
travelling  by  night,  and  resting  by  day,  till  we 
arrived  at  the  Scioto,  where  we  had  been  told  we 
should  strike  the  military  road  of  General  Hull, 
in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  might 
then  safely  travel  by  day.  We  found  the  road, 
accordingly,  by  the  large  sycamore  and  elm 
which  marked  its  beginning,  and  entered  upoa 
it  with  fresh  spirits  early  in  the  day.  Nobody 
had  told  us  that  it  was  cut  through  the  wild 
erness,  and  I  had  neglected  to  provide  any  food, 
thinking  we  should  soon  come  to  some  habi- 
tntion,  where  we  could  be  supplied.  But  we 
travelled  on  all  day  without  seeing  one,  and  laid 
down  at  night,  hungry  and  weary  enough.  I 
thought  I  heard  the  howling  of  wolves,  and  the 
terror  inspired  by  this,  and  the  exertions  I  used 
to  keep  them  off,  by  making  as  much  noise  as  I 
could,  took  away  all  power  of  sleeping,  till  day 
light,  and  rendered  a  little  delay  inevitable.  In 
the  morning  we  were  as  hungry  as  ever,  but  had 
nothing  to  relieve  our  appetites  but  a  little  piece 
of  Jlried  beef.  I  divided  some  of  this  all  round, 
and  then  started  for  a  second  day's  trip  in  the 
wilderness.  It  was  a  haro!\  trial,  and  this  day  is 
a  memorable  one  in  my  life.  The  road  was 


LIFE     OF      JOSIAH     HENSON.  53 

rough,  of  course,  being  neglected,  and  the  logs 
lying  across  it  constantly ;  the  underbrush  was 
somewhat  cleared  away,  and  that  was  about  all 
to  mark  the  track.  As  we  went  wearily  on,  I 
was  a  little  ahead  of  my  wife  and  the  boys, 
when  I  heard  them  call  to  me,  and,  turning 
round,  saw  that  my  wife  had  fallen  over  a  log, 
and  was  prostrate  on  the  ground.  u  Mother's 
dying,"  cried  Tom ;  and  when  I  reached  her,  it 
seemed  really  so.  She  had  fainted.  I  did  not 
know  but  it  might  be  fatal,  and  was  half  dis 
tracted  with  the  fear  and  the  uncertainty.  In  a 
few  minutes,  however,  she  recovered  sufficiently 
to  take  a  few  mouth fu Is  of  the  beef,  and  this, 
with  a  little  rest,  revived  her  so  much  that  she 
bravely  set  out  once  more. 

We  had  not  gone  far,  and  I  suppose  it  was 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we 
discerned  some  persons  approaching  us  at  no 
great  distance.  We  were  instantly  on  the  alert, 
as  we  could  hardly  expect  them  to  be  friends. 
The  advance  of  a  few  paces  showed  me  they 
were  Indians,  with  packs  on  their  shoulders ; 
and  they  were  so  near  that  if  they  were  hostile, 
it  would  be  useless  to  try  to  escape.  So  I  walked 
along  boldly,  till  we  carne  close  upon  them. 
They  were  bent  down  with  their  burdens,  and 
had  not  raised  their  eyes  till  now ;  and  when 
they  did  so,  and  saw  me  coming  towards  them, 
they  looked  at  me  in  a  frightened  sort  of  way 
for  a  moment,  and  then,  setting  up  a  peculiar 


54  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     BENSON. 

howl,  turned  round,  and  ran  as  fast  as  they 
could.  There  were  three  or  four  of  them,  and 
what  they  were  afraid  of  I  could  not  imagine, 
unless  they  supposed  I  was  the  devil,  whom  they 
had  perhaps  heard  of  as  black.  But  even  then 
one  would  have  thought  my  wife  and  children 
might  have  reassured  them.  However,  there 
was  no  doubt  they  were  well  frightened,  and  we 
heard  their  wild  and  prolonged  howl,  as  they  ran, 
for  a  mile  or  more.  My  wife  was  alarmed  too, 
and  thought  they  were  merely  running  back  to 
collect  more  of  a  party,  and  then  to  come  and 
murder  us,  and  she  wanted  to  turn  back.  I  told 
her  they  were  numerous  enough  to  do  that,  if 
they  wanted  to,  without  help;  and  that  as  for 
turning  back,  I  had  Jiad  quite  too  much  of  the 
road  behind  us,  and  that  it  would  be  a  ridiculous' 
thing  that  both  parties  should  run  away.  If  they 
were  disposed  to  run,  I  would  follow. <  We  did 
follow  on,  and  soon  the  noise  was  stopped;  and, 
as  we  advanced,  we  could  discover  Indians  peep 
ing  at  us  from  behind  the  trees,  and  dodging  out 
of  our  sight,  if  they  thought  we  were  looking  at 
them.  Presently  we  came  upon  their  wigwams, 
and  saw  a  fine  looking,  stately  Indian,  with  his 
arms  folded,  waiting  for  us  to  approach.  He . 
was  apparently  the  chief,  and,  saluting  us  civilly, 
he  soon  discovered  that  we  were  human  beings, 
and  spoke  to  his  young  men,  who  were  scattered 
about,  and  made  them  come  in,  and  give  up  their 
foolish  fears.  And  now  curiosity  seemed  to  pre- 


LIFE      OF      JOSIAH      BENSON.  55 

vail.  Each  one  wanted  to  touch  the  children, 
who  were  shy  as  partridges,  with  their  long  life 
in  the  woods ;  and  as  they  shrunk  away,  and 
uttered  a  little  cry  of  alarm,  the  Indian  would 
jump  back  too,  as  if  he  thought  they  would  bite 
him. s  However,  a  little  while  sufficed  to  make 
them  understand  what  we  were,  and  whither  we 
were  going,  and  what  we  needed  ;  and  as  little, 
to  set  them  about  supplying  our  wants,  feeding 
us  bountifully,  and  giving  us  a  comfortable  wig 
wam  for  our  night's  rest  The  next  day  we 
resumed  our  march,  and  found,  from  the  Indians, 
that  we  were  only  about  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  lake.  They  sent  some  of  their  young  men  to 
point  out  the  place  where  we  were  to  turn  off, 
and  parted  from  us  with  as  much  kindness  as 
possible. 

In  passing  over  the  part  of  Ohio  near  the  lake, 
where  such  an  extensive  plain  is  found,  we  came 
to  a  spot  overflowed  by  a  stream,  across  which 
the  road  passed.  I  forded  it  first,  with  the  help 
of  a  sounding-pole,  and  then  taking  the  children 
on  my  back,  first,  the  two  little  ones,  and  then 
the  others,  one  at  a  time,  and,  lastly,  my  wife,  I 
succeeded  in  getting  them  all  safely  across,  where 
the  ford  was  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  wide,  and  the  deepest  part  perhaps  four  feet 
deep.  At  this  time  the  skin  was  worn  from  my 
back  to  an  extent  almost  equal  to  the  size  of  my 
knapsack. 

One  nigtu  more  was  passed  in  the  woods,  and 


56  LIFE      OF     JOSIAH      HENSOJf. 

in  the  course  of  the  next  forenoon  we  came  out 
upon  the  wide  plain,  without  trees,  which  lies 
south  and  west  of  Sandusky  city.  We  saw 
the  houses  of  the  village,  and  kept  away  from 
them  for  the  present,  till  I  should  have  an  oppor 
tunity  to  reconnoitre  a  little.  When  about  a 
mile  from  the  lake,  I  hid  my  companions  in  the 
bushes,  and  pushed  forward.  Before  I  had  gone 
far,  I  observed  on  the  left,  on  the  opposite  side 
from  the  town,  something  which  looked  like  a 
house,  between  which  and  a  vessel,  a  number  of 
men  were  passing  and  repassing  with  activity. 
I  promptly  decided  to  approach  them ;  and,  as  I 
drew  near,  I  was  hailed  by  one  of  the  number, 
who  asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  work.  I  told  him 
yes  ;  and  it  was  scarcely  a  minute  before  I  had 
hold  of  a  bag  of  corn,  which,  like  the  rest,  I 
emptied  into  the  hold  of  the  vessel  lying  at  anchor 
a  few  rods  off.  I  got  into  the  line  of  laborers 
hurrying  along  the  plank  next  to  the  only  colored 
man  I  saw  engaged,  and  soon  entered  into  c/m- 
versation  with  him;  in  the  course  of  which  I 
inquired  of  him  where  they  were  going,  the  best 
route  to  Canada,  who  was  the  captain,  and  other 
particulars  interesting  to  me,  and  communicated 
to  him  where  1  came  from,  and  whither  I  wished 
to  go.  He  told  the  captain,  who  called  me 
one  side,  and  by  his  frank  look  and  manner  soon 
induced  me  to  acknowledge  my  condition  and 
purpose.  I  found  I  had  not  mistaken  him.  He 
sympathized  with  me,  at  once,  most  heartily ; 


LIFE     OF    JOS1AH     HENSON.  57 

and  offered  to  take  me  and  my  family  to  Buffalo, 
whither  they  were  bound,  and  where  they  might 
arrive  the  next  evening,  if  the  favorable  wind 
continued,  of  which  they  were  hurrying  to  take 
advantage.  Never  did  men  work  wifh  a  better 
will,  and  soon  two  or  threejmndred  bushels  were 
thrown  on  board,  the  hatches  were  fastened 
down,  the  anchor  raised,  and  the  sails  hoisted. 
The  captain  had  agreed  to  send  a  boat  for  me, 
.  after  sundown,  rather  than  take  me  on  board  at 
the  landing;  as  there  were  Kentucky  spies,  he 
said,  on  the  watch  for  slaves,  at  Sandusky,  who 
might  get  a  glimpse  of  me,  if  I  brought  my  party 
out  of  the  bush  by  daylight.  I  watched  the  ves 
sel,  as  she  left  her  moorings,  with  intense  inter 
est,  and  began  to  fear  that  she  would  go  without 
me,  after  all ;  she  stretched  off  to  so  great  a  dis 
tance,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  before  she  rounded  to. 
At  length,  however,  I  saw  her  come  up  to  the 
.wind,  and  lower  a  boat  for  the  shore ;  and,  in  a 
few  minutes,  my  black  friend  and  two  sailors 
jumped  out  upon  the  beach.  They  went  with 
me,  immediately,  to  bring  my  wife  and  children. 
But  what  was  my  alarm  when  I  came  back  to 
the  place  where  I  had  left  them,  to  find  they  had 
gone  !  For  a  moment,  my  fears  were  overpow 
ering  ;  but  I  soon  discerned  them,  in  the  fading 
twilight,  at  no  great  distance.  My  wife  had 
been  alarmed  by  my  long  absence,  and  thought  I 
must  have  been  discovered  by  some  of  our  watch 
ful  enemies,  and  had  given  up  all  for  lost.  Her 


58  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH    HENSON. 

fears  were  not  removed  by  seeing  me  returning 
with  three  other  men  ;  and  she  tried  to  hide  her 
self.  It  was  not  without  difficulty  that  I  satisfied 
her  all  was  right,  for  her  agitation  was  so  great 
that  she  could  not,  at  once,  understand  what  I 
said.  However,  this  was  soon  over,  and  the 
kindness  of  my  companions  facilitated  the  matter 
very  much.  Before  long,  we  were  all  on  the 
way  to  the  boat,  and  it  did  not  require  much 
time  or  labor  to  embark  our  luggage.  A  short 
row  brought  us  to  the  vessel,  and,  to  my  astonish 
ment,  we  were  welcomed  on  board,  with  three 
hearty  cheers  ;  for  the  crew  were  as  much  pleased 
as  the  captain,  with  the  help  they  were  giving  us 
to  escape.  A  fine  run  brought  us  to  Buffalo  the 
next  evening,  but  it  was  too  late  to  cross  the  river 
that  night.  The  next  morning  we  dropped  down, 
to  Black  Rock,  and  the  friendly  captain,  whose 
name  I  have  gratefully  remembered  as  Captain 
Burnham,  put  us  on  board  the  ferry-boat  to 
Waterloo,  paid  the  passage  money,  and  gave  me 
a  dollar  at  parting.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  and 
had  done  enough  to  win  my  enduring  gratitude, 
to  prove  himself  a  kind  and  generous  man,  and 
to  give  me  a  pleasant  association  with  his  dialect 
and  his  country. 

.  When  I  got  on  the  Canada  side,  on  the^ morn 
ing  of  the  28 th  of  October,  1S30,  my  first  impulse 
was  to  throw  myself  on  the  ground,  and  giving 
way  to  the  riotous  exultation  of  my  feelings,  to 
execute  sundry  antics  which  excited  the  astonish- 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  59 

ment  of  those  who  were  looking  on.  A  gentle 
man  of  the  neighborhood,  Colonel  Warren,  who 
happened  to  be  present,  thought  I  was  in  a  fit, 
and  as  he  inquired  what  was  the  matter  with  the 
poor  fellow,  I  jumped  up  and  told  him  I  was  free. 
"O,"  said  he,  with  a  hearty  laugh,  :<  is  that  it? 
I  never  knew  freedom  make  a  man  roll  in  the 
sand  before."  It  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  my  certainty  of  being  free  was  not  quite  a 
sober  one  at  the  first  moment ;  and  I  hugged  and 
kissed  my  wife  and  children  all  round,  with  a 
Vivacity  which  made  them  laugh  as  well  as 
myself.  There  was  not  much  time  to  be  lost, 
though,  in  frolic,  even  at  this  extraordinary 
moment.  I  was  a  stranger,  in  a  strange  land, 
and  had  to  look  about  me  at  once,  for  refuge  and 
resource.  I  found  a  lodging  for  the  night ;  and 
the  next  morning  set  about  exploring  the  interior 
for  the  means  of  support.  I  knew  nothing  about 
the  country,  or  the  people  ;  but  kept  my  eyes  and 
ears  open,  and  made  such  inquiries  as  opportu 
nity  afforded.  I  heard,  in  the  course  of  the  day, 
of  a  Mr.  Hibbard,  who  lived  some  six  or  seven 
miles  off,  and  who  was  a  rich  man,  as  riches 
were  counted  there,  with  a  large  farm,  and  seve 
ral  small  tenements  on  it,  which  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  letting  to  his  laborers.  To  him  I  went, 
immediately,  though  the  character  given  him  by 
his  neighbors  was  not,  by  any  means,  unexcep- 
tionably  good.  But  J  thought  he  was  not  proba 
bly  any  worse  than  those  1  had  been  accustomed 


60  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH    HENSON. 

to  serve,  and  that  I  could  get  along  with  him,  if 
honest  and  faithful  work  would  satisfy  him.  In 
the  afternoon  I  found  him,  and  soon  struck  a  bar 
gain  with  him  for  employment.  I  asked  him  if 
there  was  any  house  where  he  would  let  me  live. 
He  said  yes,  and  led  the  way  to  an  old  two  story 
sort  of  shanty,  into  the  lower  story  of  which  the 
pigs  had  broken,  and  had  apparently  made  it 
their  resting-place  for  some  time.  Still,  it  was  a 
house,  and  I  forthwith  expelled  the  pigs,  and  set 
about  cleaning  it  for  the  occupancy  of  a  better 
sort  of  tenants.  With  the  aid  of  hoe  and  shovel, 
hot-water  and  a  mop,  I  got  the  floor  into  a  tole 
rable  condition  by  midnight,  and  only  then  did  I 
rest  from  my  labor.  The  next  day  I  brought  the 
rest  of  the  Hensons  to  my  house,  and  though 
there  was  nothing  there  but  bare  walls  and  floors, 
we  were  all  in  a  state  of  great  delight,  and  my 
old  woman  laughed  and  acknowledged  that  it 
was  worth  while,  and  that  it  was  better  than  a 
log-cabin  with  an  earth-floor.  I  begged  some 
straw  of  Mr.  Hibbard,  and  confining  it  by  logs  in 
the  corners  of  the  room,  1  made  beds  of  it.  three 
feet  thick,  -upon  which  we  reposed  luxuriously 
after  our  long  fatigues. 

Another  trial  awaited  me  which  I  had  not  anti 
cipated.  In  consequence  of  the  great  exposures 
we  had  gone  through,  my  wife  and  all  the  child 
ren  fell  sick ;  and  it  was  not  without  extreme 
peril  that  they  escaped  with  their  lives. 

My  employer  soon  found  that  my  labor  was  of 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  61 

more  value  to  him  than  that  of  those  he  was 
accustomed  to  hire  ;  and  as  I  consequently  gained 
his  favor,  and  his  wife  took  quite  a  fancy  to 
mine,  we  soon  procured  some  of  the  comforts  of 
life,  while  the  necessaries  of  food  and  fuel  were 
abundant.  I  remained  with  Mr.  Hibbard  three 
years,  sometimes  working  on  shares,  and  some 
times  for  wages ;  and  I  managed  in  that  time  to 
procure  some  pigs,  a  cow,  and  a  horse.  Thus 
my  condition  gradually  improved,  and  I  felt  that 
my  toils  and  sacrifices  for  freedom  had  not  been 
in  vain.  Nor  were  my  labors  for  the  improve 
ment  of  myself  and  others,  in  more  important 
things  than  food  and  clothing,  without  effect.  It 
so  happened  that  one  of  my  Maryland  friends 
arrived  in  this  neighborhood,  and  hearing  of  my 
being  here,  inquired  if  I  ever  preached  now,  and 
spread  the  reputation  I  had  acquired  elsewhere, 
for  my  gifts  in  the  pulpit.  I  had  said  nothing 
myself,  and  had  not  intended  to  say  any  thing,  of 
my  having  ever  officiated  in  that  way.  I  went 
to  meeting  with  others,  when  I  had  an  opportu 
nity,  and  enjoyed  the  quiet  of  the  Sabbath  when 
there  was  no  assembly.  I  would  not  refuse  to 
labor  in  this  field,  however,  when  desired  to  do 
so;  and  I  hope  it  is  no  violation  of  modesty  to 
state. the  fact  that  I  was  frequently  called  upon, 
not  by  blacks  alone,  but  by  all  classes  in  my 
vicinity,  the  comparatively  educated,  as  well  as 
the  lamentably  ignorant,  to  speak  to  them  on 
their  duty,  responsibility,  and  immortality,  on 


62  LIFE     OF     JOSIAHHENSON. 

their  obligations  to  their  Maker,  their  Saviour, 
and  themselves. 

It  may,  nay,  I  am  aware  it  must,  seem  strange 
to  many  that  a  man  so  ignorant  as  myself,  unable 
to  read,  and  having  heard  so  little  as  I  had  of 
religion,  natural  or  revealed,  should  be  able  to 
preach  acceptably  to  persons  who  had  enjoyed 
greater  advantages  than  myself.  I  can  explain  it, 
only  by  reference  to  our  Saviour's  comparison  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  a  plant  which  may 
spring  from  a  seed  no  bigger  than  a  mustard- 
seed,  and  may  yet  reach  such  a  size,  that  the 
birds  of  the  air  may  take  shelter  therein.  Reli 
gion  is  not  so  much  knowledge,  as  wisdom ;  — 
and  observation  upon  what  passes  without,  and 
reflection  upon  what  passes  within  a  man's  heart, 
will  give  him  a  larger  growth  in  grace  than  is 
imagined  by  the  devoted  adherents  of  creeds, 
or  the  confident  followers  of  Christ,  who  call  him 
Lord,  Lord,  but  do  not  the  things  which  he  says. 

Mr.  Hibbard  was  good  enough  to  give  my 
eldest  boy,  Torn,  two  quarters'  schooling,  to 
which  the  schoolmaster  added  more  of  his  own 
kindness,  so  that  my  boy  learned  to  read  fluently 
and  well.  It  was  a  great  advantage,  not  only  to 
him,  but  to  me ;  for  I  used  to  get  him  to  read 
much  to  me  in  the  Bible,  especially  on  Sunday 
mornings  when  I  was  going  to  preach ;  and  I 
could  easily  commit  to  memory  a  few  verses,  or 
a  chapter,  from  hearing  him  read  it  over.  One 
beautiful  summer-Sabbath  I  rose  early,  and  called 


r 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  63 

him  to  come  and  read  to  me.  "  Where  shall 
I  read,  father?"  "Anywhere,  my  son,"  I 
answered,  for  I  knew  not  how  to  direct  him.  He 
opened  upon  Psalm  ciii.  "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my 
soul,  and .  all  that  is  within  me  bless  his  holy 
name  ;  "  and  as  he  read  this  beautiful  outpouring 
of  gratitude  which  I  now  first  heard,  my  heart 
melted  within  me.  I  recalled,  with  all  the  rapid 
ity  of  which  thought  is  capable,  the  whole  cur 
rent  of  my  life;  and  as  I  remembered  the  dangers 
and  afflictions  from  which  the  Lord  had  delivered 
me,  and  compared  my  present  condition  with 
what  it  had  been,  not  only  my  heart  but  my  eyes 
overflowed,  and  I  could  neither  check  nor  con 
ceal  the  emotion  which  overpowered  me.  The 
words  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,"  with  which 
the  Psalm  begins  and  ends,  were  all  I  needed,  or 
could  use,  to  express  the  fulness  of  my  thankful 
heart.  When  he  had  finished,  Tom  turned  to 
me  and  asked,  "Father,  who  was  David?" 
He  had  observed  my  excitement,  and  added, 
"  He  writes  pretty,  don't  he  ?  "  and  then  repeated 
his  question.  It  was  a  question  I  was  utterly 
unable  to  answer.  I  had  never  heard  of  David, 
but  could  not  bear  to  acknowledge  my  ignorance 
to  my  own  child.  So  I  answered  evasively, 
"  He  was  a  man  of  God,  my  son."  "  I  suppose 
so,"  said  he;  "but  I  want  to  know  something 
more  a*'out  him.  Where  did  he  live  ?  What  did 
he  do?"  As  he  went  on  questioning  me,  I  saw 
it  was  in  vain  to  attempt  to  escape,  and  so  I  told 


64  LIFE    OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

him  frankly  I  did  not  know.  "Why,  father/7 
said  he,  "can't  you  read?"  This  was  a  worse 
question  than  the  other,  and  if  I  had  any  pride  in 
me  at  the  moment,  it  took  it  all  out  of  me  pretty 
quick.  It  was  a  direct  question,  and  must  have 
a  direct  answer ;  so  I  told  him  at  once  I  could 
not.  "  Why  not,"  said  he.  "  Because  I  never 
had  an  opportunity  to  learn,  nor  anybody  to 
teach  me."  "  Well,  you  can  learn  now,  father." 
"  No,  my  son,  I  am  too  old,  and  have  not  time 
enough.  I  must  work  all  day,  or  you  would  not 
have  enough  to  eat."  "  Then  you  might  do  it  at 
night."  "  But  still  there  is  nobody  to  teach  me. 
I  can't  afford  to  pay  anybody  for  it,  and  of  course 
no  one  can  do  it  for  nothing."  "Why,  father, 
PR  teach  you,  I  can  do  it,  I  know.  And  then 
you'll  know  so  much  more,  that  you  can  talk 
better,  and  preach  better."  The  little  fellow  was 
so  earnest,  chere  was  no  resisting  him  ;  but  it  is 
hard  to  describe  the  conflicting  feelings  within 
me  at  such  a  proposition  from  such  a  quarter.  I 
was  Delighted  with  the  conviction  that  my  child 
ren  would  have  advantages  I  had  never  enjoyed; 
but  it  was  no  slight  mortification  to  think  of  being 
instructed  by  a  child  of  twelve  years  old.  Yet 
ambition,  and  a  true  desire  to  learn,  for  the  good 
it  would  do  mV  own  mind,  conquered  the  shame, 
and  I  agreed  to  try.  But  I  did  not  reach  this 
state  of  mind  instantly.  I  was  greatly  moved  by 
the  conversation  I  had  had  with  Tom  —  so  much 
so  that  I  could  not  undertake  to  preach  that  day. 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENS  ON.  65 

The  congregation  were  disappointed,  and  I 
passed  the  Sunday  in  solitary  reflection  in  the 
woods.  I  was  too  much  engrossed  with  the 
multitude  of  my  thoughts  within  me  to  return 
home  to  dinner,  and  spent  the  whole  day  in  secret 
meditation  and  prayer,  trying  to  compose  myself, 
and  ascertain  my  true  position.  It  was  not  diffi 
cult  to  see  that  my  predicament  was  one  of  pro 
found  ignorance,  and  that  I  ought  to  use  every 
opportunity  of  enlightening  it.'  I  began  to  take 
lessons  of  Tom,  therefore,  immediately,  and  fol 
lowed  it  up,  every  evening,  by  the  light  of  a  pine 
knot,  or  some  hickory  bark,  which  was  the  only 
light  I  could  afford.  Weeks  passed,  and  my  pro 
gress  was  so  slow,  that  poor  Tom  was  almost 
discouraged,  and  used  to  drop  asleep,  sometimes, 
and  whine  a  little  over  my  dulness,  and  talk  to 
me  very  much  as  a  schoolmaster  talks  to  a  stupid 
boy,  till  I  began  to  be  afraid  that  my  age,  my 
want  of  practice  in  looking  at  such  littl-3  scratches, 
the  daily  fatigue,  and  the  dim  ligM,  would  be 
effectual  preventives  of  my  ever  acquiring  the 
art  of  reading.  But  Tom's  perseverance  and 
mine  conquered  at  last,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
winter  I  did  really  learn  to  read  a  little.  It  was, 
and  has  been  ever  since,  a  great  comfort  to  me 
to  have  made  this  acquisition ;  though  it  has 
made  me  comprehend  better  the  terrible  abyss  of 
ignorance  in  which  I  had  been  plunged  all  my 
previous  life.  It  made  me  also  feel  more-deeply 
and  bitterly  the  oppression  under"  which  I  had 

5 


66  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     BENSON. 

toiled  and  groaned;  but  the  crushing  and  cruel 
nature  of  which  I  had  not  appreciated,  till  I 
found  out,  in  some  slight  degree,  from  what  I 
had  been  debarred.  At  the  same  time  it  made 
me  more  anxious  than  before  to  do  something  for 
the  rescue  and  the  elevation  of  those  who  were 
suffering  the  same  evils  I  had  endured,  and  who 
did  not  know  how  degraded  and  ignorant  they 
really  were. 

After  about  three  years  had  passed,  I  improved 
my  condition  again  by. taking  service  with  a  gen 
tleman  by  the  name  of  Riseley,  whose  residence 
was  only  a  few  miles  distant,  and  who  was  a 
man  of  more  elevation  of  mind  than  Mr.  Hibbard, 
and  of  superior  abilities.  At  his  place  I  began  to 
reflect,  more  and  more,  upon  the  circumstances  of 
the  blacks,  who  were  already  somewhat  nume 
rous  in  this  region.  I  was  not  the  only  one  who 
had  escaped  from  the  States,  and  had  settled  on 
the  first  spot  in  Canada  which  they  had  reached. 
Several  hundreds  of  colored  persons  were  in  the 
neighborhood  ;'  and  in  the  firs^t  joy  of  their  deliv 
erance,  were  going  on  in  a  way  which,  I  could 
see,  led  to  little  or  no  progress  in  improvement. 
They  were  content  to  have  the  proceeds  of  their 
labor  at  their  own  command,  and  had  not  the 
ambition  for,  or  the  perception  of  what  was 
within  their  easy  reach,  if  they  did  but  know  it. 
They  were  generally  working  for  hire  upon  the 
lands  of  others,  and  had  not  yet  dreameid  of  be 
coming  independent  proprietors  themselves.  It 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON.  67 

soon  became  my  great  object  to  awaken  them  to 
a  sense  of  the  advantages  which  offered  them 
selves  to  their  grasp;  and  Mr.  Riseley,  seeing 
clearly  the  justness  of  my  views,  and  willing 
to  cooperate  with  me  in  the  attempt  to  make 
them  generally  known  among  the  blacks,  permit 
ted  me  to  call  meetings,  at  his  house,  of  those  who 
were  known  to  be  among  the  most  intelligent 
and  successful  of  our  class.  At  these  meetings 
we  considered  and  discussed  the  subject,  till  we 
were  all  of  one  mind  ;  and  it  was  agreed,  among 
the  ten  or  twelve  of  us  who  assembled  at  them, 
that  we  would  invest  our  earnings  in  Jand,  and 
undertake  the  task,  which,  though  no  light  one 
certainly,  would  yet  soon  reward  us  for  our 
effort,  of  settling  upon  wild  lands  which  we  could 
call  our  own;  and  where  every  tree  which  we 
felled,  and  every  bushel  of  corn  we  raised,  would 
be  for  ourselves  ;  in  other  words,  where  we  could 
secure  all  the  profits  of  our  own  labor. 

The  advantages  of  this  course  need  not  be 
dwelt  upon  in  a  country  which  is  every  day 
exemplifying  it,  and  has  done  so  for  two  hundred 
years  and  more ;  and  has,  by  this  very  means, 
acquired  an  indestructible  character  for  energy, 
enterprise,  and  self-reliance.  It  was  precisely 
the  Yankee  spirit  which  I  wished  to  instil  into 
my  fellow-slaves,  if  possible :  and  I  was  not 
deterred  from  the  task  by  the  perception  of  the 
immense  contrast  in  all  the  habits  and  character 
generated  by  long  ages  of  freedom  and  servitude, 


68  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HEN  SON. 

activity  and  sloth,  independence  and  subjection. 
My  associates  agreed  with  me,  and  we  resolved 
to  select  some  spot  among  the  many  offered  to 
our  choice,  where  we  would  colonize  and  raise 
our  own  crops,  eat  our  own  bread,  and  be,  in 
short,  our  own  masters.  I  was  deputed  to 
explore  the  country,  and  find  a  place  to  which  I 
would  be  willing  to  migrate  myself:  and  they  all 
said  they  would  go  with  me  whenever  such  a 
one  should  be  found.  I  set  out  accordingly  in 
the  autumn  of  1S34,'  and  travelled  on  foot  all 
over  the  extensive  region  between  lakes  Ontario, 
Erie,  and  Huron.  When  I  came  to  the  territory 
east  of  Lake  St.  Clair  and  Detroit  River,  I  was 
strongly  impressed  with  its  fertility,  its  conven 
ience,  and,  indeed,  its  superiority,  for  our  pur 
poses,  to  any  other  spot  I  had  seen.  I  determined 
this  should  be  the  place ;  and  so  reported,  on  my 
return,  to  my  future  companions.  They  were 
wisely  cautious,  however,  and  sent  me  off  again 
in  the  summer,  that  I  might  see  it  at  the  opposite  \ 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  be  better  able  to  judge  of 
its  advantages.  I  found  no  reason  to  change  my 
opinion,  but  upon  going  further  towards  the  head 
of  Lake  Erie,  I  discovered  an  extensive  tract  of 
government  land,  which,  for  some  years,  had 
been  granted  to'  a  Mr.  McCormick  upon  certain 
conditions,  and  which  he  had  rented  out  to  set 
tlers  upon  such  terms  as  he  could  obtain.  This 
land  being  already  cleared,  offered  some  advan 
tages  for  the  immediate  raising  of  crops,  which 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH'HENSON.  69 

were  not  to  be  overlooked  by  persons  whose 
resources  were  so  limited  as  ours  ;  and  we  deter 
mined  to  go  there  first,  for  a  time,  and  with  the 
proceeds  of  what  we  could  earn  there,  to  make 
our  purchases  in  Dawn  afterwards.  This  plan 
was  followed,  and  some  dozen  or  more  of  us  set 
tled  upon  these  lands  the  following  spring,  and 
accumulated  something  by  the  crops  of  wheat 
and  tobacco  we  were  able  to  raise. 

I  discovered,  before  long,  that  McCormick  had 
not  complied  with  the  conditions  of  his  grant,  and 
was  not,  therefore,  entitled  to  the  rent  he  exacted 
from  settlers.  I  was  advised  by  Sir  John  Cock- 
burn,  to  whom  I  applied  on  the  subject,  to  appeal 
to  the  legislature  for  relief.  We  did  so;  and 
though  McCormick  was  able,  by  the  aid  of  his 
friends,  to  defeat  us  for  one  year,  yet  we  suc 
ceeded  the  next,  upon  a  second  appeal,  and  were 
freed  from  all  rent,  thereafter,  so  long  as  we 
remained.  Still,  this  was  not  our  own  land. 
The  government,  though  it  demanded  no  rent, 
might  set  up  the  land  for  sale  at  any  time,  and 
then  we  should,  probably,  be  driven  off  by 
wealthier  purchasers,  with  the  entire  loss  of  all 
our  improvements,  and  with  no  retreat  provided. 
It  was  manifest  that  it  was  altogether  better  for 
us  to  purchase  before  competition  was  invited ; 
and  we  kept  this  fully  in  mind  during  the  time 
we  staid  here.  We  remained  in  this  position  six 
or  seven  years ;  and  all  this  while  the  colored 
population  was  increasing  rapidly  around  us,  and 


70  LIFE    OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

spreading  very  fast  into  the  interior  settlements 
and  the  large  towns.  The  immigration  from  the 
United  States  was  incessant,  and  some,  I  am  not 
unwilling  to  admit,  were  brought  hither  with 
my  knowledge  and  connivance.  I  was  glad  to 
help  such  of  my  old  friends  as  had  the  spirit  to 
make  the  attempt  to  free  themselves  ;  and  I  made 
more  than  one  trip,  about  this  time,  to  Maryland 
and  Kentucky,  with  the  expectation,  in  which  I 
was  not  disappointed,  that  some  might  be  enabled 
to  follow  in  my  footsteps.  I  knew  the  route 
pretty  well,  and  had  much  greater  facilities  for 
travelling  than  when  I  came  out  of  that  Egypt  for 
the  first  time. 

I  did  not  fiml  that  our  prosperity  increased 
with  our  numbers.  The  mere  delight  the  slave 
took  in  his  freedom,  rendered  him,  at  first,  con 
tented  with  a  lot  far  inferior  to  that  which  he 
might  have  attained.  Then  his  ignorance  led 
him  to  make  unprofitable  bargains,  and  he  would 
often  'hire  wild  land  on  short  terms,  and  bind 
himself  to  clear  a  certain  number  of  acres ;  and 
by  the  time  they  were  cleared  and  fitted  for 
cultivation  his  lease  was  out,  and  his  landlord 
would  come  in,  and  raise  a  splendid  crop  on  the 
new  land ;  and  the  tenant  would,  very  likely, 
start  again  on  just  such  another  bargain,  and  be 
no  better  off  at  the  end  of  ten  years  than  he  was 
at  the  beginning.  Another  way  in  which  they 
lost  the  profits  of  their  labor,  was  by  raising 
nothing  but  tobacco,  the  high  price  of  which  was 


LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     BENSON.  71 

very  tempting,  and  the  cultivation  of  which  was 
a  monopoly  in  their  hands,  as  no  white  man 
understood  it,  or  could  compete  with  them  at  all. 
The  consequence  was,  however,  that  they  had 
nothing  but  tobacco  to  sell ;  there  was  rather  too 
much  of  it  in  the  market,  and  the  price  of  wheat 
rose,  while  their  commodity  was  depressed ;  and 
they  lost  all  they  should  have  saved,  in  the  profit 
they  gave  the  trader  for  his  corn  and  stores.  I 
saw  the  effect  of  these  things  so  clearly  that  I 
could  not  help 'try  ing  to  make  my  friends  and 
neighbors  see  it  too ;  and  I  set  seriously  about 
the  business  of  lecturing  upon  the  subject  of  crops, 
wages,  and  profits,  as  if  I  had  been  brought  up 
to  it.  I  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  their  raising 
their  own  crops,  saving  their  own  wages,  and 
securing  the  profits  of  their  own  labor,  with  such 
plain  'arguments  as  occurred  to  me,  and  werp  as 
clear  to  their  comprehension  as  to  mine.  I  did 
this  very  openly ;  and,  frequently,  my  audience 
consisted  in  part  of  the  very  traders  whose  inor 
dinate  profits  upon  individuals  I  was  trying  to 
diminish,  but  whose  balance  of  profit  would  not 
be  ultimately  lessened,  because  they  would  have 
so  many  more  persons  to  trade  with  who  would 
be  able  to  pay  them  a  reasonable  advance  in 
cash,  or  its  equivalent,  on  all  their  purchases. 
The  purse  is  a  tender  part  of  the  system ;  but  I 
handled  it  so  gently,  that  the  sensible  portion  of 
my  natural  opponents  were  not,  I  believe, 
offended ;  while  those  whom  I  wished  to  benefit, 


72  LIFE    OF     JOSIAH     BENSON. 

saw,  for  the  most  part,  the  propriety  of  my 
advice,  and  took  it.  At  least,  there  are  now  great 
numbers  of  settlers,  in  this  region  of  Canada,  who 
own  their  farms,  and  are  training  up  their  child 
ren  in  true  independence,  and  giving  them  a 
good  elementary  education,  who  had  not  taken  a 
single  step  towards  such  a  result  bef6re  I  began 
to  talk  to  them. 

I  said  none  of  the  respectable  traders  were 
offended  with  me ;  but  one  man  had  the  folly  to 
arrest  me  for  a  small  debt,  under  the  pretence 
that  I  was  about  to  leave  the  country,  when  I 
was  only  going  to  Detroit  for  a  few  days,  in  the 
spring,  leaving  my  crops  on  the  ground,  and  all 
my  family  at  home  but  one  little  girl,  who  was  to 
go  to  school  for  a  few  weeks.  It  was  so  absurd, 
however,  that  I  was  soon  released  by  some  of  my 
friends,  of  whom  I  had  many  among  the  whites 
as  well  as  the  blacks. 

While  I  remained  at  Colchester,  I  became 
acquainted  with  a  Congregational  missionary 
from  Massachusetts,  by  the  name  of  Hiram  Wil 
son,  who  took  an  interest  in  our  people,  and  was 
disposed  to  do  what  he  could  to  promote  the 
cause  of  improvement  which  I  had  so  much  at 
heart.  He  cooperated  with  me  in  many  efforts, 
and  I  have  been  associated  with  him  from  1836 
to  the  present  time.  He  has  been  a  faithful 
vfriend,  and  still  continues  his  important  labors  of 
love  in  our  behalf.  Among  other  things  which 
he  did  for  us  then,  he  wrote  to  a  Quaker  friend 


LIFE     OF    JOSIAH     HENSON.  73 

of  his,  an  Englishman,  by  the  name  of  James  C. 
Fuller,  residing  at  Skeneateles,  New  York,  and 
endeavored  to  interest  him  in  the  welfare  of  our 
struggling  population. 

He  succeeded  so  far,  that  Mr.  Fuller,  who  was 
going  on  a  visit  to  England,  promised  to  do  what 
he  could  among  his  friends  there,  to  induce  them 
to  aid  us.  He  came  back  with  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  which  had  been  subscribed  for  our  bene 
fit.  It  was  a  great  question  how  this  sum, 
which  sounded  vast  to  many  of  my  brethren, 
should  be  appropriated.  I  had  my  own  opinion 
pretty  decidedly  made  up  as  to  what  it  was  best 
for  us  all  to  do  with  it.  But,  in  order  to  come  to 
a  satisfactory  conclusion,  the  first  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  call  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
every  settlement  of  blacks  that  was  within  reach; 
that  all  might  see  that  whatever  was  decided  on, 
was  sanctioned  by  the  disinterested  votes  of  those 
who  were  thought  by  their  companions  best  able 
to  judge  what  was  expedient.  Mr.  Wilson  and 
myself  called  slich  a  convention,  therefore,  to  meet 
in  London,  Up^er  Canada,  and  it  was  held  in 
June,  1838.  I  urged  the  appropriation  of  the 
money  to  the  establishment  of  a  manual-labor 
school,  where  our  children  could  be  taught  those 
elements  of  knowledge  which  are  usually  the 
occupations  of  a  grammar-school ;  and  where 
the  boys  could  be  taught,  in  addition,  the  prac 
tice  of  some  mechanic  art,  and  the  girls  could  be 
instructed  in  those  domestic  arts  which  are  the 


74  LIFE     OF     JOSIAH     HENSON. 

proper  occupation  and  ornament  of  their  sex. 
Such  an  establishment  would  train  up  those  who 
would  afterwards  instruct  others  ;  and  we  should 
thus  gradually  become  independent  of  the  white 
man  for  our  intellectual  progress,  as  we  might  be 
also  for  our  physical  prosperity.  It  was  the  more 
necessary,  as  in  many  districts,  owing  to  the 
insurmountable  prejudices  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
children  of  the  blacks  were  not  allowed  to  share 
the  advantages  of  the  common  school.  There 
was  some  opposition  to  this  plan  in  the  conven 
tion  ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  which 
continued  for  three  days,  it  appeared  so  obviously 
for  the  advantage  of  all  to  husband  this  donation, 
so  as  to  preserve  it  for  a  purpose  of  permanent 
utility,  that  the  proposal  was,  at  last,  unani 
mously  adopted ;  and  a  committee  of  three  was 
appointed  to  select  and  purchase  a  site  for  the 
establishment.  Mr.  Wilson  and  myself  were  the 
active  members  of  this  committee,  and  after 
traversing  the  country  for  several  months,  we 
could  find  no  place  more  suitable  than  that  upon 
which  I  had  had  my  eye  for  three  or  four  years, 
for  a  permanent  settlement,  in  the  town  of  Dawn. 
We  therefore  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  fine, 
rich  land,  on  the  river  Sydenham,  covered  with 
a  heavy  growth  of  black  walnut  and  white  wood, 
at  four  dollars  the  acre.*  I  had  made  a  bargain 
for  two  hundred  acres 'adjoining  this  lot,  on  my 
own  account ;  and  circumstances  favored  me  so 
that  the  man  of  whom  I  purchased  was  glad  to 


L  f F  E     OF     JOS1AH     BENSON.  75 

let  me  have  them  at  a  large  discount  from  the 
price  I  had  agreed  to  pay,  if  I  would  give  him 
cash  for  the  balance  I  owed  him.  I  transferred 
a  portion  of  the  advantage  of  this  bargain  to  the 
institution,  by  selling  to  it  one  hundred  acres 
more,  at  the  low  price  at  which  I  obtained  them; 
and  thus  the  school  has  three  hundred  acres  of 
as  fine  land,  and  as  well  situated  land,  as  Canada 
can  show,  at  a  very  moderate  cost.  In  1842,  I 
removed  with  my  family  to  Dawn,  and  as  a  con 
siderable  number  of  my  friends  are  there  about 
me,  and  the  school  is  permanently  fixed  there, 
the  future  importance  of  this  settlement  seems  to 
be  decided.  There  are  many  other  settlements 
which  are  considerable;  and,  indeed,  the  colored 
population  is  scattered  over  a  territory,  which 
does  not  fail  far  short  of  three  hundred  miles  in 
extent  in  each  direction,  and  probably  numbers 
not  ress  than  twenty  thousand  persons  in  all. 
£  We  look  to  the  school,  and  the  possession  of 
landed  property  by  individuals,  as  two  great 
means  of  the  elevation  of  our  oppressed  and 
degraded  race  to  a  participation  in  the  blessings, 
as  they  have  hitherto  been  permitted  to  share 
only  the  miseries  and  vices,  of  civilization.^ 

My  efforts  to  aid  them,  in  every  way  in  my 
power,  and  tq  procure  the  aid  of  others  for  them, 
have  been  constant.  I  have  made  many  journeys 
into  New  York,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and 
Maine,  in  all  of  which  Slates  I  have  found  or 
made  some  friends  to  the  cause,  and,  I  hope, 


76  LIFE     OFJOSIAH     BENSON. 

some  personal  friends.  I  have  received  many 
liberal  gifts,  and  experienced  much  kindness  of 
treatment ;  but  I  must  be  allowed  to  allude  par 
ticularly  to  the  donations  received  from  Boston, 
by  which  we  have  been  enabled  to  erect  a  saw 
mill,  and  thus  to  begin  in  good  earnest,  the  clear 
ing  of  our  lands,  and  to  secure  a  profitable  return 
for  the  support  of  our  school,  as  among  those 
which  have  been  most  welcome  and  valuable 
to  us.J 

I  could  give  here  a  great  many  particulars, 
which  would  amuse  and  interest  the  reader,  if 
they  did  not  instruct  him.  But  it  is  better  not  to 
indulge  the  inclination ;  and  I  will  conclude  my 
narrative  by  simply  recording  my  gratitude, 
heartfelt  and  inexpressible,  to  God,  and  to  many 
of  my  fellow-men,  for  the  vast  improvement  in 
my  condition,  both  physical  and  mental ;  for  the 
great  degree  of  comfort  with  which  I  am  sur 
rounded  ;  for  the  good  I  have  been  enabled  to 
effect;  for  the  light  which  has  risen  upon  me , 
for  the  religious  privileges  I  enjoy,  and  the  reli 
gious  hopes  I  am  permitted  to  cherish ;  for  the 
prospects  opening  to  my  children,  so  different 
from  what  they  might  have  been ;  and,  finally, 
for  the  cheering  expectation  of  benefiting  not 
only  the  present,  but  many  future  generations  of 
my  race. 


LE  D  'ii 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 

Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


MAY  2  8 1995 


RECEIVED 


JUN  0  2  1995 


CIRCULATION  DEPT. 


J(JL  0  7  2001 


LD21A-30m-10,'73 
(R3728slO)476— A-30 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


